South Korea partially suspends inter-Korean agreement after the North says it launched spy satellite

AP

Seoul, November 22

South Korea will partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement Wednesday to restart frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea, after the North said it launched a military spy satellite in violation of United Nations bans, Seoul officials said.

The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in its third such launch attempt this year.

The North's claim hasn't been independently verified; the Pentagon said it was still assessing the success of the launch, while Japan stated there has been no confirmation that the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But the United States and its allies still quickly condemned the North Korean launch, which they believe was meant to improve the country's missile technology as well as establish a space-based surveillance system.

North Korea says it has sovereign, legitimate rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it calls intensifying US-led threats. But UN Security Council resolutions still prohibit any satellite liftoff by North Korea, viewing them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology.

Heo Tae-keun, South Korea's deputy minister of national defense policy, told a televised briefing that the North's latest satellite launch was not only a clear violation of UN resolutions but also “a grave provocation that threatens our national security.”            

Heo said South Korea will respond by partially suspending the 2018 inter-Korean tension-reduction agreement later Wednesday to resume aerial surveillance activities at the border. He said the decision was approved at South Korea's Cabinet Council meeting earlier Wednesday.

He added that based on the solid military alliance with the U.S., South Korea will “promptly and strongly punish” North Korea if it uses the South Korean step as a pretext to launch another provocation.

The 2018 agreement, struck during a short-lived era of reconciliation between the rival Koreas, created buffer and no-fly zones along the countries' heavily fortified border. Under the deal, the Koreas were required to halt frontline aerial reconnaissance of each other and live-firing exercises and removed some of their guard posts and landmines at border areas.

The deal invited withering conservative criticism in South Korea with critics saying it significantly restricted the operation of the country's aerial surveillance assets, which are much more superior to North Korea's. They also accused the deal of heavily benefiting North Korea, because it only called for mutual reductions of conventional military strength while leaving the North's growing nuclear arsenal intact. South Korea has no nuclear weapons.

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