The presidential National Security Council (NSC) decided Monday to fully suspend the 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact until mutual trust is restored in response to North Korea’s massive sending of trash-carrying balloons into South Korea.
The NSC held a meeting with related ministries to evaluate North Korea’s recent series of provocations and agreed to propose a motion suspending the Comprehensive Military Agreement during a Cabinet meeting slated for Tuesday.
“The attendees decided to submit a proposal to suspend the entire effectiveness of the September 19 Military Agreement until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored,” the presidential office said in a release.
The North has sent nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash into the South since Thursday in what it said was a tit-for-tat campaign against South Korean activists sending balloons carrying propaganda leaflets denouncing the North’s regime.
No human casualties were reported, but some balloons caused property damage, such as a bro
ken windshield.
The NSC meeting, presided over by Deputy Principal National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo, concluded that North Korea’s recent provocations have caused real harm and threats to South Korean citizens and negatively impacted the military’s readiness posture.
Monday’s decision to suspend the whole pact came months after South Korea suspended part of the pact and removed no-fly zones along the border, after the North successfully launched its first military spy satellite in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The full suspension of the pact, which is often dubbed the “Sept. 19 military agreement” after the day when it was signed in 2018, would allow South Korea to resume military training near the border and loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North.
“This measure will enable military training near the Military Demarcation Line, which has been restricted by the agreement, and allow for more adequate and immediate responses to North Korean provocations. The government will tak
e all necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of our citizens,” the office said.
On Sunday, National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said the government will take “unbearable” measures against North Korea in response to its sending of trash balloons and continued jamming of GPS signals last week. It raised speculation over resuming propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers along the border.
Hours after the warning, North Korea said it will temporarily stop sending trash-carrying balloons across the border into South Korea, though it also threatened to resume such operations if anti-Pyongyang leaflets are sent from South Korea.
The North said its balloon campaign came purely in response to leaflets sent by South Korean activists.
To resume the front-line broadcasts, it would be necessary to nullify a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, which bans hostile acts between the two Koreas. The loudspeakers used to air criticism of the Kim Jong-un regime’s human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs, drawing
angry responses from Pyongyang.
The 2018 agreement, signed to reduce tensions along the border, remains effectively scrapped after the North conducted live-fire artillery drills near the western border islands in January.
Loudspeaker propaganda began in 1963 under former President Park Chung-hee’s administration and was halted in 2004 following an inter-Korean military agreement during the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration.
It was temporarily resumed as a countermeasure to North Korean provocations, including the 2010 Cheonan warship sinking, which claimed the lives of 46 sailors, and Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in 2016.
The propaganda campaign has been suspended since former President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to halt hostile acts along the border following their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom in April 2018.
Fixed loudspeakers, audible up to 24 kilometers, were installed at around ten frontline locations, while about 40 mobile units, with a greater range, wer
e also used.
The fixed loudspeakers were dismantled following the 2018 agreement and have been stored in warehouses, while the mobile units are parked by nearby military bases, according to military officials.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is ready to implement the government’s decision to resume the propaganda broadcasting following the NSC meeting on Sunday.
Source: Yonhap News Agency