North Korea has threatened to send more weaponry and reinforcements to its already fortified border with South Korea amid the recent new about Pyongyang's spy satellite.
Rising tensions on the peninsula were signaled on Tuesday, November 21, when North Korea said it would resume "all military measures" it had suspended in accordance with a 2018 confidence-building deal with South Korea. Seoul claims that Russia assisted North Korea in its recent satellite launch.
Abandoning the Military Agreement?
After North Korea allegedly successfully launched a satellite on Tuesday evening, South Korea said it would temporarily halt some of the precautions meant to prevent unintended confrontation near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). In addition, Seoul said it would increase its monitoring of the DMZ.
In response, the North Korean Ministry of Defense issued a statement to the state-run KCNA news agency saying that the North Korean armed forces would never be bound by the September 19 North-South military agreement, the Guardian reported.
"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," the statement reads, referring to the border that has separated the two nations since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The experts warned that the possibility of a border conflict may rise if the comprehensive military agreement between the two Koreas was scrapped.
The Alleged Spy Satellite
After two unsuccessful launches in May and August, North Korea will claim a major success for its space program when the Malligyong-1 spy satellite reaches orbit.
South Korean officials said they were certain the satellite had reached orbit but that it was too soon to report on the spacecraft's condition. According to official North Korean media, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un inspected satellite imagery of American military installations on Guam in the Pacific.
South Korean lawmakers speculated that Moscow's assistance was likely responsible for the launch, given that Kim had reportedly discussed his regime's space goals with Russian President Vladimir Putin only weeks before.
Yoo Sang-bum, a legislator from South Korea who had been informed by the national intelligence agency, said that Russia had provided Pyongyang with feedback after the leaders' September meeting. "After the summit with Putin, the North provided Moscow with the blueprint and data relevant to the first and second satellite launches. Russia, in turn, analyzed those data and provided the north with feedback."
After examining rocket fragments from the prior unsuccessful launches, South Korean intelligence officers concluded that the satellite was probably not operational.
Although both presidents have denied forging a weapons agreement, North Korea has given Russia substantial amounts of munitions for its fight in Ukraine after expanding the partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow.
