North Korea has announced that it will be deploying stronger armed forces and new weapons at its border with South Korea, in response to Seoul’s decision to suspend part of a 2018 military agreement between the two countries. This decision by South Korea comes after North Korea launched a spy satellite.
On Wednesday, South Korea suspended a clause in the agreement and announced that it would immediately increase military surveillance along the heavily fortified border with North Korea. In response, North Korea’s defence ministry stated that it would restore all military measures that had been halted under the deal, which was aimed at reducing tension between the two Koreas.
“We will forward deploy stronger armed forces and new military equipment near the military demarcation line,” the statement from North Korea’s defence ministry said. It also warned that South Korea would be held entirely responsible if an irreparable clash occurred between the North and the South.
The suspended pact between North and South Korea, known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement, was signed at a 2018 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Critics of the pact have argued that it weakened Seoul’s ability to monitor North Korea, especially as Pyongyang had violated the agreement.
North Korea’s statement about deploying stronger armed forces and new weapons came shortly after it fired a ballistic missile towards the sea east of the Korean peninsula late on Wednesday. South Korea’s military reported that the launch appeared to have failed.
(Reporting by Soo-Hyang Choi; editing by Diane Craft and Deepa Babington)
