▲ A new type of Chollima-1 rocket carrying a reconnaissance satellite called the Malligyong-1 lifts off from the launching pad at the Sohae satellite launch site in Tongchang-ri in northwestern North Korea on Nov. 21, 2023, in this photo released the next day by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ Rep. Lee Jae-myung (L), the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks in a party leadership meeting held at the National Assembly in Seoul on Nov. 22, 2023. (Yonhap)

rival parties-NK satellite launch

Rival parties condemn N. Korea's satellite launch

By Kang Jae-eun

SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- The rival parties on Wednesday condemned North Korea's latest launch of a purported spy satellite as a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) also criticized the government's decision to suspend part of a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement, saying it will end up escalating tensions on the divided peninsula.

Earlier in the day, the North claimed its third attempt to put a military satellite into orbit was a success and vowed to launch several more "in a short span of time."

In response, South Korea held an extraordinary Cabinet meeting and decided to suspend part of the Sept. 19 military agreement that calls for halting all hostile military activity between the Koreas.

"North Korea's military provocations will only lead to the worsening of its economy and its isolation from the international community and ultimately advance the regime's collapse," Rep. Park Jeong-ha, the chief spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said in a statement.

"The PPP strongly condemns the launch ... (we) and the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol will take whatever necessary measures to protect the democracy, freedom, lives and wealth of the people of South Korea."

The DP also condemned the North's latest launch. But the party expressed its disagreement against the military accord's partial suspension, saying it will only escalate inter-Korea tensions.

"It is necessary to come up with effective control measures against strategic weapons provocations from the North. But it must not lead to new security concerns or political sacrificing of people's safety and security on the Korean Peninsula," the DP's leader Lee Jae-myung said in a leadership meeting.

Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, the DP's floor leader, said the suspension decision was a "wrong diagnosis."

"It is not right for the government to give the North an excuse to provoke and escalate tensions between the two Koreas without solving the problem. Suspending the Sept. 19 agreement because of the military spy satellite launch is a wrong diagnosis," Hong said.

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