Yoon: "Monitor North Korea's movements without gaps... Maintain firm military readiness"

Yoon Receives Briefing from Defense Minister and Joint Chiefs Chairman in First Official Schedule After Returning Home
Troops and Equipment Deployed to GP within North Korea DMZ... Ministry of National Defense "Will Be Fully Prepared"

President Yoon Suk-yeol received a security briefing on North Korean developments and related security situations following the partial suspension of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement from Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myung-soo as his first official schedule after returning to Korea on the 27th.

After receiving the report at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon instructed, "Maintain a solid military readiness posture to ensure our citizens can feel secure while closely monitoring North Korea's movements without any gaps," according to spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong appeared on a broadcast the previous day and stated the government's position that "the partial suspension of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement is a measure to protect the 20 million residents of our metropolitan area." He added, "I don't think many people consider the September 19 agreement an achievement, and I don't think so either," elaborating, "The September 19 agreement is very disadvantageous to us, and the core of the partial suspension is restoring our ability to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance activities that the agreement had prohibited."

He particularly explained, "North Korea has placed the entire metropolitan area within range not only with nuclear weapons but also with long-range artillery," and "Our military had been continuously monitoring the long-range artillery and was prepared to respond immediately if signs of attack appeared, but the (September 19) agreement prevented us from doing so." In response to criticisms that the partial suspension of the September 19 agreement provokes a crisis, he emphasized it is a "minimum purely defensive measure."

North Korea also appears to be taking additional countermeasures. Military authorities revealed that North Korean troops have redeployed personnel and equipment to guard posts (GPs) within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that were destroyed under the September 19 military agreement and are installing observation posts, releasing photos taken with military surveillance equipment. The photos released by the military show ▲ North Korean troops installing observation posts ▲ positioning what is presumed to be recoilless rifles at fortifications ▲ and personnel conducting night guard duty.

The Ministry of National Defense stated in a press release, "Since November 24, restoration measures for some military actions have been underway," reporting that personnel have been deployed to 11 destroyed and withdrawn GPs, temporary posts have been installed, heavy weapons brought in, and the opening of coastal artillery gun ports on the West Sea has increased. The Ministry of National Defense declared that it is "fully prepared to immediately implement countermeasures in response to North Korea's restoration actions."

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