South Korean military officials said on Thursday that North Korea has recently moved troops and equipment to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in a move believed to be aimed at restoring guard posts destroyed following a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.
South Korean officials also said the country's military detected increased activities in the border area after North Korea announced on November 23 that it would resume all military measures suspended under the 2018 agreement in response to Seoul's partial suspension of the agreement after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite on the evening of November 21, according to Yonhap.
South Korea's presidential office said today that President Yoon Suk-yeol said Seoul will maintain readiness and monitor North Korea's activities near the border, according to Reuters. There is no information yet on Pyongyang's response.
North Korean soldiers in training
The 2018 military agreement called for the establishment of buffer zones and no-fly zones near the inter-Korean border to prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas. Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to stop live-fire drills and training along the border. However, the agreement did not include a ban on joint South Korea-US military exercises, according to Yonhap.
North Korea has accused South Korea of violating the 2018 military agreement and other important agreements between the two Koreas. The Rodong Sinmun , the mouthpiece of the North's ruling Workers' Party, reported today that since the two Koreas adopted inter-Korean agreements signed in April and September 2018 as well as the military agreement, South Korea "has been grossly violating inter-Korean agreements and repeatedly trampling on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
According to Rodong Sinmun , South Korea and the United States conducted about 250 joint military exercises last year in preparation for preemptive strikes on Pyongyang. North Korea has long viewed the joint South Korea-US drills as rehearsals for an invasion. "Such playing with fire is an extremely provocative and dangerous hostile act that violates the North-South military agreement," Rodong Sinmun wrote.
South Korea and the United States have expanded joint military exercises amid North Korea's stepped-up weapons testing, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to Yonhap.
South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted a joint military exercise on November 26 to bolster their defenses against “growing nuclear and missile threats” from North Korea, according to the South Korean Navy. The new joint exercise took place in the southeastern waters off South Korea’s Jeju Island, with the participation of the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
The US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrives at the port in Busan city (South Korea) on November 21.
In addition, the KCNA news agency today quoted a statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry saying that the country condemned the US and nine other countries last week issuing a joint statement criticizing Pyongyang's satellite launch using ballistic missile technology, calling it a violation of many resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
In the statement, the North Korean Foreign Ministry also stressed that the country will continue to exercise its sovereign rights, including launching satellites. North Korea launched a military reconnaissance satellite on the evening of November 21 after two failed attempts in May and August.
There is currently no information about the reaction of the US and South Korea to the criticism and statement from North Korea.
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