Yoon considers suspending inter-Korean tension reduction deal

Jan 05, 2023, 08:02 am

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Kim Eun-hye, public relations chief, speaks at a press briefing at a presidential office on Jan. 4, 2023./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered his aides on Wednesday to consider suspending an inter-Korean military agreement signed in 2019 to reduce military tensions in the event North Korea carries out another provocation violating our territory. This is the first time President Yoon has directly mentioned the suspension of the military agreement.

Yoon’s instruction came after he was briefed about the response strategy to North Korea’s drones by the National Security Office, Defense Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Agency for Defense Development during a closed-door meeting at the presidential office, according to Kim Eun-hye, his public relations chief.

At the meeting, Yoon ordered Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup to “establish a joint drone unit tasked with carrying out multiple missions, including surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare, and build a system enabling the mass production of small, undetectable drones within the year.” The president also pushed to develop stealth drones before the end of the year and stressed the need to develop a killer drone system.

“Yoon’s instructions were a call for the South Korean armed forces to build an overwhelming response capability that goes beyond a proportionate response to North Korea’s provocations,” Kim said. Yoon especially stressed the importance of a firm security readiness posture, while seeking to fulfill his role and responsibility as a commander-in-chief, protecting the lives and safety of the people, Kim said.

A senior official of the presidential office pointed out that North Korea’s violation of the military agreement has become frequent, saying, “The president ordered a resolute readiness posture as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces so that the public will not feel anxiety due to the recent drone provocation.” The official said the suspension of the Sept. 19 military agreement is in accordance with such a decision by the head of the administration and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces to protect the lives and safety of the people. “We hope that there will be no further provocations from North Korea to prevent this from happening,” the official added.

Regarding the establishment of a joint drone unit, the official said, “A drone unit has not had any effective training so far. The joint drone unit is capable of performing various missions, including electronic warfare and psychological warfare, beyond limited missions.”

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