South Korea to halt a portion of military agreement following North's assertion of spy satellite launch
South Korea took action on Wednesday to suspend a portion of a military agreement signed with Pyongyang in 2018, following North Korea's launch of a spy satellite, defying warnings from the United States and its allies.
Officials in South Korea and Japan, the first to report the launch, couldn't immediately confirm if a satellite entered orbit. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh mentioned the U.S. military was still evaluating the launch's success.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo conducted a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, stating on television that the government was proceeding with the suspension of a portion of the inter-Korean pact.
President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently on a state visit to Britain, earlier chaired a National Security Council meeting with some ministers and the national intelligence chief via video link.
The pact, referred to as the Comprehensive Military Agreement, was signed in 2018 between former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Its goal was to de-escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The agreement included the establishment of buffer zones with suspended live-fire drills, designated no-fly zones, removal of certain guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone dividing the countries, and the maintenance of hotlines, among other provisions.
However, the agreement has faced increasing scrutiny and calls for suspension or termination, with critics contending that it restricts Seoul's capacity to monitor North Korea's activities along the border.
In a statement, South Korea's National Security Council noted that the action would entail the reinstatement of reconnaissance and surveillance operations around the military demarcation line between the countries.
North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, reported that the Malligyong-1 satellite was launched from the Sohae satellite launch facility on a Chollima-1 rocket at 10:42 p.m. (1342 GMT) on Tuesday, entering orbit at 10:54 p.m. (1354 GMT). The announcement cited North Korea's National Aerospace Technology Administration.
Having notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between Wednesday and Dec. 1, North Korea's move follows two unsuccessful attempts this year to launch what it described as spy satellites.
Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, denounced the launch as "a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," warning of increased tensions and the potential destabilization of the security situation in the region and beyond.
This launch marks the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's meeting with Vladimir Putin at Russia's modern space facility in September, during which the Russian president pledged assistance to Pyongyang in building satellites.
South Korean officials suggested that the recent launch likely involved technical support from Moscow, part of a growing partnership that has seen North Korea supply millions of artillery shells to Russia. However, some missile experts caution that it may be premature to assume full integration of Russian technical assistance into the satellite or rocket at this stage.
“We have to see how properly this is being operated,” Lee Choon-geun, a rocket expert at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute said.
Russia and North Korea have refuted allegations of engaging in arms deals but are making public commitments to enhance their collaboration.
According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un personally supervised the launch, which occurred slightly more than a week before South Korea's scheduled launch of its inaugural spy satellite into space using a rocket operated by the U.S. company SpaceX.
Following the launch attempt in May, South Korea recovered the satellite wreckage from the sea and determined, through analysis, that it had limited utility as a reconnaissance platform.
The South Korean military expressed the belief that the recent rocket launch carried a reconnaissance satellite and was directed toward the south
