This country is not a landfill: South Korea is tearing up the peace agreements with Pyongyang

Tension is rising between neighbors after North Korea launched hundreds of balloons full of rubbish and excrement across the border. In response, Seoul decides to restore military activities in the northern area of the country

ROMA – The South Korea, the bombing of hundreds of balloons full of waste and manure. The sending of balloons full of waste was not in fact a joke in bad taste, but a real threat to Seoul, so much so that it activated the South Korean National Security Council, which has decided to suspend the military agreement to reduce tensions with Pyongyang, signed in 2018. This raises tensions between North Korea and South Korea. As the main Seoul press agencies explain, the participants in the meeting “decided to present a proposal to suspend the entire effectiveness of the military agreement of 19 September 2018 until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored”. The proposal was then approved by the government and President Yoon Suk-yeol gave his final green light with his signature.

In the photo the “incriminate” balloons, sent from North Korea across the border

The Security Council, chaired by deputy councilor Kim Tae-hyo, put down the reasons for the harsh reaction in black and white, concluding that Pyongyang’s latest initiatives have “caused damage and threats real to South Korean citizens and had a negative impact on the military’s preparedness.”

WHAT CAN HAPPEN NOW

With the suspension of the agreements, Seoul effectively restores military actions along the border, in order to allow “military training near the inter-Korean demarcation line”, which had been limited by the agreement, and “give more adequate and immediate to North Korean provocations”. The final word comes from the presidential office in Seoul which assures: “The government will take all necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of our citizens”. The continuation of the strategy of tension is to be expected: among the retaliatory options studied by South Korea there is in fact the resumption of broadcasts with loudspeakers, as happened in the past, from which violations of human rights were denounced verbally by the country of Kim Jong-un.

THE BACKGROUND

From the borders of North Korea, between May 28 and June 2, 3,500 balloons were launched across the border, carrying 15 tons of rubbish and manure towards South Korea(this is the version Pyongyang, less than a thousand balloons arrived for Seoul). The regime of Kim Jon-un claims to have activated this initiative in response to the sending of anti-communist leaflets across the border by South Korean activists. Last Sunday, June 2, the North Korea has issued an ultimatum to its neighbors: as reported by the state news agency Kcna, Pyongyang said it was willing to stop sending new balloons, given the commitment of Seoul government to prevent its activists from throwing leaflets. Not only that, he threatened to continue sending balloons with garbage in quantities “100 times as much” as the quantity of flyers received.

(3rd LD) S. Korea to restore all border military activities restricted under 2018 pact with N. Korea https://t.co/rGuexa6rci

— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) June 4, 2024