SEOUL [South Korea] The South Korean military said on Tuesday it would resume all military activities along the border line separating the two Koreas and northwest islands for the first time in 5 years after suspending a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. Will start. Yonhap news agency reported.
The 2018 deal included setting up a buffer zone around the border to suspend large-scale military exercises, as well as a ban on "hostile" acts between the two Koreas, which prohibited loudspeaker broadcasts. It also specified a no-fly zone near the border to prevent accidental aircraft collisions.
According to Yonhap news agency, the announcement came after President Yun Suk Yeol completely suspended the comprehensive military agreement until mutual trust is restored in response to the North's garbage-carrying balloon campaign and jamming of GPS signals in recent days. Supported the proposal to.Speaking at a press conference, Vice Defense Minister Cho Chang-rye said, "This measure is restoring to normal all military activities by our military, which were restricted by the 2018 treaty."
"The North Korean regime bears all responsibility for creating this situation, and if the North tries to make additional provocations, our military will take strong countermeasures based on the strong South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture," Cho said.
After Tuesday's suspension, South Korea is now able to conduct exercises to strengthen frontline security. The units are authorized to make training plans along the Military Demarcation Line and near the border islands.
The suspension also allows South Korea to resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward North Korea, according to Yonhap news agency.These broadcasts, a key psychological warfare tool, include criticisms of the Kim Jong-un regime's human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs, which have previously drawn strong reactions from Pyongyang.
Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that various measures could be implemented following the suspension, noting the military's use of both fixed and mobile loudspeakers on the front lines.
"Fixed loudspeakers need to be connected to electricity and can take hours to a few days to set up," Lee said at a regular briefing. "Mobile loudspeaker operations can be conducted immediately."
Government officials have not specified when measures banned under the 2018 treaty will resume, but have not ruled out the possibility of preemptive loudspeaker broadcasts depending on the situation.A government source indicated that there were no immediate plans to install stationary loudspeakers due to potential military tensions, suggesting that if broadcasting resumed the military would likely use mobile devices first.
A Unification Ministry official said South Korea is open to dialogue with the North, despite Pyongyang's continued isolation following the cutting of inter-Korea communication lines in April last year.
"North Korea should not take action of self-isolation through such provocations but should pursue the path of denuclearization and people's livelihood," the official said. "We will continue to try to bring North Korea to the path of dialogue."
On Sunday, North Korea said it would temporarily stop sending balloons carrying trash across the border, though it threatened to stop sending balloons carrying "100 times more trash" in case Seoul activists send more anti-Pyongyang leaflets. Threatened to take retaliatory action.
A group of North Korean defectors said on Monday that they would consider temporarily banning the distribution of such leaflets across the border if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un apologizes for sending balloons carrying garbage into South Korea. Can.
The 2018 deal included setting up a buffer zone around the border to suspend large-scale military exercises, as well as a ban on "hostile" acts between the two Koreas, which prohibited loudspeaker broadcasts. It also specified a no-fly zone near the border to prevent accidental aircraft collisions.
According to Yonhap news agency, the announcement came after President Yun Suk Yeol completely suspended the comprehensive military agreement until mutual trust is restored in response to the North's garbage-carrying balloon campaign and jamming of GPS signals in recent days. Supported the proposal to.Speaking at a press conference, Vice Defense Minister Cho Chang-rye said, "This measure is restoring to normal all military activities by our military, which were restricted by the 2018 treaty."
"The North Korean regime bears all responsibility for creating this situation, and if the North tries to make additional provocations, our military will take strong countermeasures based on the strong South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture," Cho said.
After Tuesday's suspension, South Korea is now able to conduct exercises to strengthen frontline security. The units are authorized to make training plans along the Military Demarcation Line and near the border islands.
The suspension also allows South Korea to resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward North Korea, according to Yonhap news agency.These broadcasts, a key psychological warfare tool, include criticisms of the Kim Jong-un regime's human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs, which have previously drawn strong reactions from Pyongyang.
Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that various measures could be implemented following the suspension, noting the military's use of both fixed and mobile loudspeakers on the front lines.
"Fixed loudspeakers need to be connected to electricity and can take hours to a few days to set up," Lee said at a regular briefing. "Mobile loudspeaker operations can be conducted immediately."
Government officials have not specified when measures banned under the 2018 treaty will resume, but have not ruled out the possibility of preemptive loudspeaker broadcasts depending on the situation.A government source indicated that there were no immediate plans to install stationary loudspeakers due to potential military tensions, suggesting that if broadcasting resumed the military would likely use mobile devices first.
A Unification Ministry official said South Korea is open to dialogue with the North, despite Pyongyang's continued isolation following the cutting of inter-Korea communication lines in April last year.
"North Korea should not take action of self-isolation through such provocations but should pursue the path of denuclearization and people's livelihood," the official said. "We will continue to try to bring North Korea to the path of dialogue."
On Sunday, North Korea said it would temporarily stop sending balloons carrying trash across the border, though it threatened to stop sending balloons carrying "100 times more trash" in case Seoul activists send more anti-Pyongyang leaflets. Threatened to take retaliatory action.
A group of North Korean defectors said on Monday that they would consider temporarily banning the distribution of such leaflets across the border if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un apologizes for sending balloons carrying garbage into South Korea. Can.
