North Korea said it is ending an agreement aimed at reducing military tensions with the South, a sign ties are fraying after Pyongyang placed a spy satellite into orbit for the first time.
North Korea vowed that “our army will never be bound” by the 2018 agreement, the official Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday, adding that it “will immediately restore all military measures that have been halted.”
It would “deploy more powerful armed forces and new military hardware” in the area along the border separating it from South Korea, it added.
Photo: AP
South Korea vowed to punish the North “immediately, strongly and to the end” based on its defense partnership with the US, if the North engages in further provocations, a spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Defense in Seoul said at a regular briefing.
The heightened tensions come after North Korea appeared to successfully place a spy satellite into orbit, putting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un closer to his goal of deploying an array of reconnaissance probes allowing him to monitor US forces in the region. Kim oversaw the latest launch, and his state media said the country wants to fire off several more probes within a short period of time.
Kim has viewed photos of US military facilities in Guam that were taken by the Malligyong-1 satellite, official media in Pyongyang said.
Adding to the renewed strains, North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward waters to the east of the peninsula at about 11:05pm on Wednesday, though the launch appears to have failed, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message.
Following the launch of the spy satellite, South Korea suspended parts of a 2018 deal with North Korea intended to ease military tensions along the border. The cabinet in Seoul approved a plan to restore reconnaissance and surveillance activities that were halted under the agreement.
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