Suspending the military agreement is unavoidable

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Suspending the military agreement is unavoidable

Published: 21 Nov. 2023, 20:22 Updated: 21 Nov. 2023, 23:31

North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite at some point between “12 a.m. Nov. 22 and 12 a.m. Dec. 1.” After failing to launch a military reconnaissance satellite twice in May and August, the North declared a third launch in October. If it pushes the launch in defiance of an ultimatum from our Joint Chiefs of Staff and a warning from the United States, we must sternly deal with the launch.

After detecting tangible signs of its preparations for the satellite launch, our military intelligence authorities raised the possibility of Pyongyang successfully launching the satellite this time. Launching a military satellite clearly violates the past United Nations resolutions. The North may want to steal the show before the South launches a military surveillance satellite of its own at a U.S. base on Nov. 30.

North Korea professed in 2021 that it would develop its own military reconnaissance satellite as part of five national defense projects, including the development of hypersonic missiles and guided multiple-warhead missiles. But the country repeatedly failed to launch the satellite due to its technological limitations. Therefore, the North may have received help from Russia after its leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to a spaceport in the Russian Far East in September in return for conventional weapons support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

If North Korea fires a reconnaissance satellite, our government must immediately declare that the Sept. 19 military agreement in 2018 is null and void. Despite the deal the dovish Moon Jae-in administration struck with the North in Pyongyang, the recalcitrant state repeatedly violated the promises it made, as seen in its sending of spy drones to Seoul. But South Korea’s ability to detect such provocations was critically restricted by the unreasonable shackles of the military agreement.

If North Korea launches a provocation again, South Korea must instantly invalidate the no-fly zone above the Military Demarcation Line the Moon administration agreed to and carry out reconnaissance activities on North Korea. Due to the nonsensical arrangements, our armed forces had to transport major weapons, including the K-9 self-propelled Thunder howitzers, on cargo ships or barges for a drill in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, nearly 600 kilometers (373 miles) away. The abnormality must be corrected.

Cooperation with the United States is also important. The nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson is making a call at Busan Harbor to brace for the North’s provocation. The government must also activate the trilateral security cooperation with the United States and Japan as agreed to at Camp David.