South Korea demanded this Monday that the North “immediately suspend ongoing preparations for the launch of a military spy satellite” and guaranteed action if this does not happen.
South Korea on Monday demanded that the North immediately stop preparations to launch a spy satellite and threatened to suspend a bilateral peace agreement and resume aerial surveillance of the border in retaliation.
“We strongly recommend that North Korea (…) immediately suspend ongoing preparations for the launch of a military spy satellite,” said the director of operations of the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“If North Korea launches a military reconnaissance satellite despite our warning, our military will take necessary measures to ensure the lives and safety of the people,” Kang Hopil added.
The leader hinted that measures could include suspending military agreements signed by the two countries in 2018, which suspended aerial surveillance activities and live-fire exercises along the border.
There is an agreement in principle to officially end the conflict between Koreas
Kang accused Pyongyang of having violated the agreement on numerous occasions, citing as examples the destruction of an abandoned inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea, sending drones to the South and conducting shooting exercises along the maritime border. .
“Despite the North’s repeated violations of the agreement, our army has patiently respected the clauses of the military agreement, but this has caused considerable problems in the preparation of our army,” the leader said.
The military agreement, reached during a brief rapprochement between then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, created buffer zones along land and sea borders and no-fly zones to prevent accidental clashes.
After a second failed attempt in August, Pyongyang announced it would launch a third spy satellite in Octoberbut that didn’t happen.
South Korean officials said the delay was likely because North Korea is receiving technological assistance from Russia.
At the beginning of November, Military intelligence in Seoul stated that North Korea was in the final stages of preparations for the third attempt.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said Sunday that the launch could take place as soon as this week.
A Russian delegation led by Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov visited North Korea last week to discuss “cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, science and technology,” the official North Korean news agency reported. , the KCNA.
According to South Korea, the North provided Russia with more than a million artillery shells for the war in Ukraine and in return received technical advice for the satellites.
In early November, the group of seven most industrialized countries in the world (G7) condemned the country’s arms transfers to Russia and called on both sides to “immediately cease all such activities.”
Seoul promises “firm response” if North Korea allies with Russia
Source: Observadora
