South Korea May Suspend 2018 Military Pact With North In Event Of Provocations

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2023) South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol may have the 2018 inter-Korean military pact on deescalation in the border buffer zones suspended if the North violates the South's airspace again, a presidential spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Yoon suggested as much during a high-level meeting with top military officials, who briefed him on last week's incursion of North Korean drones into South Korean territory.

"President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the National Security Office to consider suspending the Sept. 19 military agreement in the event North Korea carries out another provocation violating our territory," Kim Eun-hye said, as quoted by South Korean Yonhap news agency.

The inter-Korean military agreement was signed at the summit between the leaders of the two countries in September 2018 with the aim of preventing military confrontation in the Korean Peninsula and establishing buffer zones along the Military Demarcation Line on land and the Northern Limit Line at sea.

Five North Korean drones crossed the inter-Korean border on December 26. South Korea tried to shoot them down and scrambled fighter jets and helicopters to intercept them. One of the aircraft, a KA-1 light attack plane, reportedly crashed during takeoff.

Four small North Korean drones flew near Ganghwado Island in South Korea, and another flew up to the northern region of the metropolitan agglomeration, including Seoul. Media later reported that a drone managed to return back to the North, while the remaining four disappeared from radars.

The South Korean Defense Ministry called the incident a provocation and pledged to respond. Seoul said it would accelerate the creation of its own drone unit, introduce stealth drones and take other steps to strengthen defense capabilities.