North Declares Military Agreement Termination... "Strong Military Forward Deployment at MDL"

On the 23rd, North Korea announced that it would not be bound by the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement and would immediately restore all military measures that had been suspended on land, sea, and air under the agreement.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This was a de facto declaration of the termination of the agreement in response to South Korea's suspension of some provisions of the September 19 Military Agreement following North Korea's third reconnaissance satellite launch. The North Korean Ministry of Defense issued a statement on the day, reported by the Korean Central News Agency, saying, "We will deploy stronger forces and new military equipment forward in the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) area."

The Ministry of Defense condemned South Korea for suspending some provisions of the military agreement, asserting that their reconnaissance satellite launch was a legitimate exercise of sovereign rights in self-defense.

It further stated, "Due to the deliberate and provocative actions of the 'Republic of Korea' people, the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement has long been rendered obsolete and become an empty shell," without mentioning their repeated violations of the agreement, showing a brazen attitude.

It also threatened, "The 'Republic of Korea' must pay the price for their irresponsible and serious political and military provocations that have driven the current situation into an uncontrollable phase," adding, "If an irreversible conflict occurs between the North and South, the 'Republic of Korea' will be fully responsible."

The Ministry of Defense additionally criticized, "We have once again concluded that we cannot recognize any agreement with the 'Republic of Korea' people who shamelessly abandon even basic trust and publicly declared commitments, and that we should not even associate with them."

North Korea launched its first military reconnaissance satellite, 'Manriki-1,' on the night of the 21st. In response, the South Korean military decided on the 22nd at 3 p.m. to suspend the enforcement of the flight restriction zone set under Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement and immediately deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets to the frontline to resume reconnaissance against the North.

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