South Korea To Partially Suspend Military Pact After North Launches ‘Spy Satellite’

The South Korean government has moved to partially suspend the inter-Korean military agreement signed in 2018 with the North after Pyongyang said it launched the spy satellite.

South Korea has moved to partially suspend part of a military agreement on Wednesday that was inked with the North in 201 after Pyongyang defied warnings from the United States and its allies and launched a spy satellite, which it called a success, reported Reuters. 

On Tuesday, North Korea said that it has placed its first spy satellite in orbit and vowed to launch more in the near future. 

Reuters reported that the photos published by North Korean state media showed what appeared to be leader Kim Jong-un watching the launch. 

South Korean and Japanese officials, who first reported the launch, could not immediately verify whether a satellite was in orbit. 

In a televised remark on Wednesday, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that the government was moving ahead to suspend part of the inter-Korean pact after he hosted a cabinet meeting. 

“North Korea is clearly demonstrating that it has no will to abide by the 19 September [2018] military agreement designed to reduce military tension on the Korean Peninsula and to build trust,” said the Prime Minister in an extraordinary cabinet meeting that approved suspending the deal, according to Guardian.

The Comprehensive Military Agreement was signed in 2018 at a summit between former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un aiming to de-escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula 

With the pact, the two sides agreed to impose buffer zones where live-fire drills will be suspended, as well as no-fly zones, remove some guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone separating the countries, and maintain hotlines, among other measures.

But the agreement has increasingly come under scrutiny lately with many calling for it to be scrapped as critics say it limits Seoul's ability to monitor Pyongyang's actions around the border. 

In a statement, South Korea's National Security Council said  the move would involve restoring reconnaissance and surveillance operations around the military demarcation line between the countries.