Unification minister urges caution on ending military agreement with North

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks at a parliamentary audit of the Unification Ministry at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

South Korea needs to comprehensively consider the security situation in deciding whether to suspend the 2018 military tension reduction accord with North Korea, Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said Wednesday.

Kim made the remark during a parliamentary audit of the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs, as the defense minister called for pausing the Comprehensive Military Agreement signed on Sept. 19, 2018, citing its impact on limiting South Korea's surveillance capabilities against the North's military threats.

The accord has received fresh attention as Hamas' surprise rocket attack on Israel renewed concerns in South Korea over Seoul's capabilities to counter a potential attack from North Korea.

"Some elements of the agreement could work to South Korea's disadvantage, as it excessively limits the operation of our surveillance assets," Kim said while condemning North Korea for violating the accord multiple times.

Kim said the government has yet to decide whether to suspend or abandon the agreement, noting the issue should be prudently discussed at a National Security Council meeting.

The agreement, signed under former liberal President Moon Jae-in, called for establishing buffer zones along land and maritime borders and creating no-fly zones. Pyongyang has violated the agreement 17 times until the end of last year, and 15 violations occurred last year alone, according to the defense ministry.

Meanwhile, the unification ministry said it will review whether to resume humanitarian assistance to North Korea, after closely monitoring the progress of international organizations' preparations for aid projects.

"The government will review proper measures (to resume) humanitarian aid to North Korea, based on objective assessments of the North Korean situation, once international organizations bring their staff members back to the North amid the country's border reopening," the ministry said in a report for the audit.

North Korea began opening its border with China in late August after its yearslong border closure over the Covid-19 pandemic, raising expectations that the World Food Program (WFP) and other UN agencies could soon be allowed to send back their field officials to the North to resume aid projects.

South Korea provided humanitarian aid to North Korea through UN agencies: US$151.3 million to the WFP, $66.48 million to the World Health Organization and $40.14 million to the U.N. Children's Fund from 1996 to 2022.

Separately, South Korea provided North Korea with nutritional supplies and medicines, valued at about 36 billion won ($26.8 million), through the combination of a government fund and private organizations' funds from 2018 to 2022.

Yonhap