(3rd LD) N. Korea vows to restore all military measures halted under inter-Korean military accord

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 22, 2023, shows the North launching a military spy satellite, called the Malligyong-1, on a new type of Chollima-1 rocket the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (2nd from R) visits the Pyongyang General Control Center of the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration on Nov. 22, 2023, in this photo carried by the Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 22, 2023, shows the North's preparation to launch a military spy satellite, called the Malligyong-1, on a new type of Chollima-1 rocket the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) N Korea-military accord

(3rd LD) N. Korea vows to restore all military measures halted under inter-Korean military accord

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout)

By Kim Soo-yeon and Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Thursday it will immediately restore all military measures it had halted under a 2018 inter-Korean military accord, a day after South Korea suspended part of the tension reduction deal following the North's launch of a military spy satellite.

The North's defense ministry said it will "never be bound" by the military agreement any more, effectively scrapping the deal that calls for a series of tension reduction measures along the heavily armed border, and warned that the South must "pay dearly" for its decision.

"We will immediately restore all military measures that have been halted according to the North-South military agreement," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We will withdraw the military steps, taken to prevent military tension and conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air, and deploy more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware in the region along the Military Demarcation Line," it said.

South Korea must "pay dearly for their irresponsible and grave political and military provocations that have pushed the present situation to an uncontrollable phase," the North said.

South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military accord, after North Korea launched a military spy satellite, called the Malligyong-1, Tuesday night. The move allowed Seoul to immediately restore reconnaissance and surveillance operations near the border with North Korea.

Defending the satellite launch as a "legitimate" exercise of its right to self-defense, North Korea warned South Korea would be "wholly accountable in case an irretrievable clash breaks out" between the two Koreas.

The statement came hours after North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday night. The South's military said the launch appears to have failed.

The agreement, signed Sept. 19, 2018, under the previous liberal administration of President Moon Jae-in, calls for setting up buffer zones and no-fly zones near the inter-Korean border in a bid to prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas.

Seoul officials said the deal "seriously" limits South Korea's aerial surveillance capabilities against North Korea. The North had breached the accord 17 times in its major violations as of end-2022 and 15 cases occurred last year alone, including drone incursions in December, according to the defense ministry.

The ministry slammed the North's statement, vowing to craft response measures against possible North Korean measures.

"We sternly warn North Korea again for distorting the facts and shifting the blame when they are in the wrong," Jeon Ha-kyou, the ministry's spokesperson, said in a regular briefing.

"The defense ministry and our military will closely monitor North Korea's actions and come up with response measures to protect our people."

Seoul's unification ministry also denounced the North's statement as a "far-fetched" claim and "strongly" condemned Pyongyang's threat to deploy new weapons along the border.

"Seoul's partial suspension of the military accord is a just and self-defense measure that can be taken at a minimum at a time when the North has constantly violated the deal and continued its nuclear and missile threats and provocations against us," a ministry official told reporters.

The official said North Korea "effectively nullified" the accord, but the government does not regard the deal as being scrapped.

North Korea claimed it has successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit and vowed to launch several more satellites within a short span of time to better reconnoiter South Korea and "the region of its operational interest."

The launch followed its two failed attempts in May and August and came amid suspicion that Russia may have provided technical assistance for the North's spy satellite in return for Pyongyang's supply of artillery and munitions for use in its war in Ukraine.

The North said the satellite took pictures of Andersen Air Force Base and Apra Harbor in the U.S. territory of Guam on Wednesday morning. It said the satellite will officially begin its mission on Dec. 1 after a "fine-tuning process" that could take up to 10 days.

North Korea is believed to have received technological help from Russia for the latest spy satellite launch, with intelligence suggesting Russia provided analysis of the North's two failed launches earlier this year, Seoul's spy agency was quoted as saying in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers.

The agency also said the North is unlikely to conduct another satellite launch this year.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea could resume military activities swiftly as early as Thursday, including drone-based surveillance operations and opening gunports on its coastline.

"Military tensions could spike between the two Koreas after the North restores the military measures," Hong said, raising the possibility of Pyongyang deploying upgraded multiple rocket launchers and tactical missiles to the front line.

Experts said a spy satellite will help the North stage a precision strike against targets in war situations, as it will enhance the country's surveillance capability, but many still have doubts about the North's satellite capabilities.

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