After the launch of the spy satellite, Seoul suspended part of the agreement with the DPRK, the purpose of which was to de-escalate tensions between the parties.
North Korea said on Thursday it would deploy new military equipment along the military demarcation line separating it from the South, after Seoul partially abandoned a 2018 deal meant to ease tensions along the border, state media reported.
CNN reports about this.
Reason for escalation
North Korea did so after Seoul promised to strengthen intelligence and surveillance along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in response to the launch of North Korea's first-ever spy satellite on Tuesday, November 21, which analysts say could target enemy forces. .
Seoul's move in response is a partial retreat from the Inter-Korean Military Agreement, which was signed in 2018 as part of efforts with the United States to contain the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula and expand the buffer zone between the two Koreas.
It was signed by then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-in at Panmunjom on the border, and its text declared that “there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula, and thus a new era of peace has begun.”
But any goodwill generated by that agreement has evaporated in recent years. Kim, who failed to win desired concessions from the US and South Korea during subsequent negotiations, has since strengthened the North's ballistic missile program, promising to provide Pyongyang with a nuclear deterrent similar to those held by Washington.
In response to North Korea's buildup, the United States and South Korea, along with Japan, have stepped up their military cooperation through exercises and deployments of troops that Pyongyang views as a threat.
Earlier this week, North Korea condemned the US for potentially selling advanced missiles to Japan and military equipment to South Korea, calling it a “dangerous act” in a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea said it was “obvious” who offensive military equipment would be targeted and used against.
On Thursday, November 23, North Korea's Defense Ministry said its military would “never be bound” by the military agreement, vowing to deploy “more powerful armed forces and new types of military equipment in the region along the military demarcation line,” according to a KCNA report.
The ministry added that the agreement “has long since become just a piece of paper due to the deliberate and provocative actions” of South Korea, and warned that it must “pay dearly” for its “irresponsible and serious political and military provocations that pushed the current situation to uncontrolled phase.” ”, KCNA said in a statement.
Pyongyang also said South Korea would bear “full responsibility” for any clashes that might break out between the two Koreas.
“The most dangerous situation in the area of the military demarcation line, where the most acute military confrontation in the world continues and any minor random factor can escalate the armed conflict into a full-scale war, has become irreversibly uncontrollable due to a serious mistake made by political and military gangsters.”
Let us recall that South Korea refused to fulfill part of the agreement with the DPRK of 2018 due to its violation by Pyongyang.
It is reported that in 2018, a pact called the Comprehensive Military Agreement was signed between the countries. However, the DPRK violated it, which is why South Korea increased surveillance on the border.
In response, North Korea's Defense Ministry said it would resume all military measures it had suspended as part of the agreement.
“We will deploy reinforced armed forces and new military equipment near the demarcation line. “South Korea will bear full responsibility if an irrevocable clash occurs between North and South,” the DPRK said.
It was also previously reported that North Korea successfully launched a military spy satellite into space after two previous attempts failed during 2023.
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