Seoul, June 4 : The South Korean government has approved a motion to suspend a 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact, a step that would allow it to take tougher responses to North Korean provocations.
The proposal was approved at a cabinet meeting a day after the presidential National Security Council decided on the suspension and placed such a proposal on the agenda of a meeting. The motion will be sent to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for signing, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The development came as animosities between the two neighbours rose sharply after North Korea launched trash-carrying balloons across the border in reaction to previous South Korean civilian leafletting campaigns.
In November 2023, in response to North Korea’s launch of its Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and, in particular, restoring reconnaissance activities near the military demarcation line. Pyongyang announced its decision to restore all military measures suspended under the 2018 inter-Korean military accord.
The military agreement – reached during a short-lived era of reconciliation between the Koreas – requires the two countries to cease all hostile acts against each other at their border areas such as live firing drills, aerial drills and psychological warfare. (Agencies)
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