South Korea suspends peace pact with North over trash-filled balloons, raising risk of military clashes

Seoul says it will resume all military activities near the land and sea border and will ‘sternly retaliate’ should the North begin provocations again

Suspension of the pact could also allow the South to resume loudspeaker broadcasts across the border, which could prompt retaliation by the North, analysts say

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A North Korean military guard post (top) and South Korean post (bottom) are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on May 31. Photo: AP

Published: 3:40pm, 4 Jun 2024Updated: 6:05pm, 5 Jun 2024

South Korea’s decision to effectively scrap a 2018 tension-reduction pact in response to recent provocations by Pyongyang has raised the risk of armed clashes by allowing for the resumption of military activities near its border with the North, analysts have warned.

In response to the North’s recent launch of trash-filled balloons across the border, the South’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a motion calling for the “full suspension” of the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement, which aimed to defuse tensions and avoid war.

“The main purpose of the [2018 agreement] is to prohibit military activities that can be considered hostile by the other side in the buffer zone along the land and sea borders. Scrapping this agreement allows the resumption of military drills near the border immediately,” Professor Yang Moo-jin at the University of North Korean Studies told This Week in Asia.

South Korea’s defence ministry on Tuesday said the country would resume all military activities near the land and sea border.

“All responsibility for causing this situation lies with the North Korean regime and if the North attempts to stage additional provocation, our military will sternly retaliate,” the ministry said in a statement.

South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, near the border with North Korea, on May 31. Photo: AP

The 2018 agreement, signed during a brief period of détente, had already been undermined by both sides amid mounting tensions over the past two years.