North Multiple Launch Rocket System... President-elect Yoon "Violation of Military Agreement," Ministry of National Defense "Not a Violation"

Minister of National Defense Seo Wook is attending the full meeting of the National Defense Committee held at the National Assembly on the 22nd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense stated that North Korea's recent launch of multiple rocket launchers does not violate the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement. This contradicts the claim made by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, who defined it as a violation of the military agreement.

On the morning of the 22nd, President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol held the first secretariat meeting at the Presidential Transition Committee office in Tongui-dong and said regarding North Korea's multiple rocket launcher launch, "Isn't this a violation of the September 19 (Inter-Korean Military Agreement)? It is a clear violation." The September 19 Military Agreement is the "Military Agreement for the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom Declaration," signed on September 19, 2018. In this agreement, the military authorities of both Koreas promised to completely cease hostile acts on land, sea, and air. North Korea launched four multiple rocket launchers into the West Sea from an undisclosed location in South Pyongan Province on the morning of the 20th, which President-elect Yoon judged as a violation of the agreement.

On the same day, Minister of National Defense Suh Wook responded "No" to a question from Min Hong-chul, chairman of the National Defense Committee and member of the Democratic Party of Korea, during a plenary session of the National Defense Committee, asking if North Korea's multiple rocket launcher launch was a breach of the September 19 Military Agreement. After stating that the launch site was "towards the West Sea," he explained in response to a follow-up question about whether it was within the area defined by the September 19 Military Agreement, "No, it was much further north," indicating that the launch occurred north of the maritime buffer zone. The Ministry judged that since the launch did not cross the Northern Limit Line (NLL) buffer zone in the West Sea, which is the prohibited artillery firing area defined in the military agreement, it does not constitute a violation of the agreement.

Minister Suh emphasized, in response to repeated questions such as "President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol stated it was a clear violation of the military agreement in breaking news; is the Ministry of National Defense's position that it is not?" "I have not seen the breaking news, but this is not an area where the agreement was to be implemented."

A military official also stated to reporters on the same day that "North Korea's recent multiple rocket launcher launch does not fall under the September 19 Military Agreement" and that "North Korea's firing north of the maritime buffer zone is not included in the provisions of the September 19 Military Agreement."

It is known that North Korea launched four multiple rocket launchers (the North Korean term for multiple rocket launchers) from the Sukcheon area in South Pyongan Province towards the West Sea on the 20th. This area is north of Pyongyang and is not included in the "maritime buffer zone" established by the September 19 Military Agreement.

The maritime buffer zone established under the September 19 Military Agreement spans 135 km from north of Deokjeokdo on the southern side of the West Sea to south of Chodo near Nampo on the northern side. In this zone, to prevent accidental clashes or escalation of tensions between the two Koreas, coastal artillery gun barrels were to be closed and firing of coastal artillery was prohibited.

The military authorities previously defined North Korea's coastal artillery firing near Changrindo, close to the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea in November 2019, as a violation of the September 19 Military Agreement for these reasons. The military is known to analyze this recent multiple rocket launcher launch as part of North Korea's winter training exercises.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.