South Korea’s military yesterday said that it would resume all military activities along the demarcation line separating the two Koreas and the North West Islands after suspending an inter-Korean military agreement.
The suspension of the military agreement with North Korea, which South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol approved earlier yesterday, is in response to North Korea’s decision to send hundreds of balloons carrying trash over the border.
“The South Korean military makes it clear that it will take all necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of its people in response to North Korea’s provocations,” a South Korean Ministry of National Defense official said at an emergency briefing.
Photo: Reuters
The large-scale spraying of filth balloons has “seriously threatened the safety of our people and caused property damage,” the official added.
Pyongyang on Sunday said it had sent up 15 tonnes of wastepaper using 3,500 balloons, while Seoul vowed “unendurable” measures in response, which could include blaring propaganda from loudspeakers directed at North Korea.
Under the pact, both nations agreed to “completely cease all hostile acts against each other” that are the source of military tension and conflict, through measures such as the two sides ending military drills near the border.
It was the most substantive deal to come out of months of historic summit meetings between the two Koreas in 2018, but had been all but scrapped when Pyongyang declared last year it was no longer bound by it.
Since then, North Korea has deployed troops and weapons at guard posts near the military border.
About 50 North Koreans were seen from South Korea yesterday building a fence, stretching a few hundred meters, leading to a guard post on a hill, a witness said.
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