Seoul: South Korean President Un Suk-ol on Tuesday completely suspended a 2018 military de-escalation agreement with the North in response to Pyongyang’s bombardment of dirt-carrying balloons last week.
The agreement, signed during a period of warmer relations, is no longer in force, as Seoul partially suspended last year in response to North Korea’s placement of an internal satellite into orbit, which Pyongyang said it would not respect.
But Seoul’s security officials say honoring part of the accord has hampered their ability to defend against provocations from the North, which last week saw around 1,000 balloons carrying rubbish such as cigarette butts and fertilizer float by.
According to his office, the President approved his proposal to suspend the military agreement of September 19 (2018), which had been signed by the ministry.
His approval means the contract will be implemented immediately.
The move would allow the South to resume live fire exercises and continue an aggressive propaganda campaign along the border with the North.
The South uses a rhetorical campaign, a psychological warfare tactic dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War, as a countermeasure against North Korea’s serious provocations.
For example, Pyongyang last deployed them in 2016 until it was called the day before the 2018 inter-Korean summit, where a military de-escalation deal was signed after Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test.
A campaign of violence has spread across South Korea near the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries, which are technically still at war, from K-pop to anti-regime propaganda using giant megaphones.
Pyongyang’s angry broadcasters threatened artillery strikes over loudspeakers if they were not turned off first.
Pyongyang said the ash balloon was in retaliation for a similar mission sent to the North by South Korean activists.
Anti-Pyongyang groups in the South announced on Monday that they had sent balloons with about 2,000 USB flash drives containing South Korean mega-trot singer Lim Young-woo and other K-pop and K-drama songs. May 10.
Drug countries are very sensitive to their people’s access to South Korea’s thriving popular culture.
Pyongyang passed a law in 2020 punishing anyone who owns or publishes media from the South with life in prison or the death penalty, according to a UN report.
Seoul also said Pyongyang tried to jam GPS signals for several days last week.
Pyongyang halted its balloon bombing on Sunday, saying it was an effective response, but warned that more could happen if South Korean activists continue their campaign in the North.
Seoul’s Chief of Staff said the ceasefire “continues all military activities” near the inter-Korean border.
JCS spokesman Lee Sung-jun said the portable speakers can be built and run “immediately,” while custom units will take several days to build.
“Just because North Korea littering does not mean we can. This is a crime,” he said.
In a 2018 agreement, both countries agreed to stop “all hostile acts” from the South, including the distribution of propaganda leaflets.
South Korea’s parliament outlawed leafleting in the North in 2020, but the law, which did not stop activists, was struck down last year as a violation of freedom of expression.
Activist Park Sang-hak told AFP that her group plans to send 5,000 USB flash drives and 200,000 leaflets featuring Lim’s K-drama and music starting Thursday.
Park, the North Korean defector behind the May 10 balloon launch amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said his team sent millions of Tylenol and vitamin C, 140,000 masks, as well as cash and flash drives containing K. North.
“We sent facts and truths, love, drugs, $1 bills, drama and trot music. But instead of North sent us dirt and garbage.”
