Seoul cautious about declaring nullification of inter-Korean military pact
The South Korean military stages live-fire drills on Baengnyeong Island, Friday, after North Korea fired around 200 artillery rounds near the western sea border on the same day. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense
The Ministry of National Defense said, Tuesday, that discussions with other government bodies are necessary to determine the complete nullification of the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military pact, thereby maintaining a cautious stance about formally declaring the military agreement as invalid.
"It is not for us (the defense ministry) to answer about the complete nullification of the military agreement. I believe the matter requires necessary discussions and agreements between relevant ministries," ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu said during a press briefing. He was responding to a query regarding whether the military pact has already been effectively nullified or requires a Cabinet Meeting approval to do so.
A day earlier, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that "buffer zones on land and sea no longer exist" as a result of North Korea's continuous provocations, with the latest one being the firing of artillery north of the de facto maritime border of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) for three consecutive days from Friday to Sunday.
The JCS stated that the South Korean military will resume the firing of artillery and drills near the sea and land border, which had been prohibited under the Sept. 19 military pact.
These remarks were interpreted as an announcement that the military agreement is now de facto invalidated. But the defense ministry refrained from giving a straightforward answer on the issue.
"While the Sept. 19 military agreement did not receive parliamentary ratification since it was a supplementary document to the joint declaration between the two leaders, it is considered a decree under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Unification. Therefore, coordination and discussions with the unification ministry and other relevant ministries are deemed necessary," a defense ministry official told reporters, Tuesday.
The unification ministry echoed the defense ministry's stance.
"We share the same position as the Ministry of National Defense. The agreement has already been nullified by North Korea," a senior unification ministry official said on the same day.
The Sept. 19 military agreement, also known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), was signed in 2018 by then-president Moon Jae-in during a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The document instituted buffer zones between the two Koreas by prohibiting hostility on land, at sea and in the air near the border. It also includes clauses on joint war remains excavation projects in the border area and joint use of the Han River estuary along the western border.
But North Korea violated the agreement about 3,600 times, according to the JCS.
As per the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, the president can suspend an inter-Korean agreement when significant changes occur in inter-Korean relations or when it is deemed necessary for national security, maintenance of order or public welfare — when an agreement is signed without National Assembly ratification.
In November last year, Seoul announced a partial suspension of the agreement following Pyongyang's launch of a spy satellite, enabling South Korea to resume reconnaissance activities near the border area. North Korea reacted furiously by entirely scrapping the agreement from its side and began restoring military measures that were halted under the deal.