South Korean president completely suspends military agreement with North Korea due to tensions

(MENAFN) In response to recent provocations by North Korea, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yul has decided to completely suspend the military agreement signed with Pyongyang in 2018 to reduce tensions between the two Koreas. Yoon’s office announced that he had approved the proposal to suspend the agreement with immediate effect. This decision gives the South the authority to resume live-fire training and restart propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers along the border with the North.

South Korea uses loudspeaker campaigns, a psychological warfare tactic dating back to the Korean War, to counter what Seoul perceives as serious provocations from North Korea. These campaigns involve broadcasting a variety of content, including K-pop music and anti-North Korean propaganda, in areas near the demilitarized zone that technically separates the two countries, still at war.

The suspension of the military agreement marks a significant escalation in tensions between the two Koreas. The last time South Korea resorted to loudspeakers was in 2016, after Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test. However, the use of loudspeakers was halted shortly before the historic summit between the two Koreas in 2018, when the military agreement was signed with the aim of detente. Despite efforts to defuse hostilities, North Korea’s recent actions have prompted South Korea to suspend the agreement and resume loudspeaker broadcasts.

Pyongyang had previously expressed hostility to the loudspeaker campaigns and threatened to launch artillery attacks on the units if they did not cease. The decision to suspend the military agreement underscores the fragility of inter-Korean relations and the ongoing challenges in establishing lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

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