Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a parliamentary inspection of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Accord excessively weakens Seoul’s reconnaissance capabilities, Kim saysBy Jung Min-ho

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said on Wednesday that the inter-Korean accord designed to reduce military tensions has been practically nullified by Pyongyang and stressed that it is “wrong” for Seoul to continue to adhere to it alone.

Speaking at the National Assembly's audit of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, Kim said North Korea violated the 2018 agreement 17 times, which he believes clearly demonstrate that it has no intention to comply with the accord.

Asked about the security risk of formally suspending or revoking the agreement first, he said, “Even though North Korea did not announce it (the termination of the agreement), its actions have undeniably violated its spirit.”

The agreement, inked by the previous Moon Jae-in administration on Sept. 9, 2018, amid a thaw in cross-border relations, includes setting up no-fly zones near the heavily-armed border as well as a system for communication to prevent accidental clashes.

Speaking of Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, in which an intense rocket barrage overwhelmed the country’s defense system, Kim said it would be critical for South Korea’s military to be equipped with reconnaissance capabilities to be ready to respond to such an attack from the North.

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“North Korea’s long-range artillery pieces near the border are capable of firing 16,000 shells per hour,” Kim said. “The military agreement makes it very difficult for our military to detect such attacks in advance.”

After two fruitless Washington-Pyongyang summits between 2018 and 2019, North Korea began to violate the accord. On Nov. 23, 2019, the North conducted artillery drills on an island near the border, ― its first violation just a year after signing the pact.

North Korea’s second violation occurred on May 3, 2020, when its soldiers fired gunshots at a South Korean guard post near the inter-Korean border.

In 2022, North Korea ratcheted up tensions by carrying out 15 other provocations, including an incursion into South Korean airspace using drones, which prompted South Korea’s military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters in response.

However, Kim took a more cautious approach toward the immediate suspension of the agreement, saying that top decision makers should conduct a thorough review of the security situation before proceeding.

His remarks were met with criticism from opposition lawmakers, who see the agreement as a safeguard reducing the risks of catastrophic miscalculations for both sides.

“If we suspend or revoke the agreement, it would give an excuse for another provocation by North Korea,” said Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea. “It would inevitably lead to increased tensions between South and North Korea.”

On the same day, Shin Won-sik, the newly-appointed defense minister, visited the Ground Operations Command in Yongin, where he reiterated his pledge to push for the suspension of the military agreement, amid growing worries about North Korea’s possible emulation of Hamas’s strategy.

“If the enemy provokes, punish them immediately, resolutely and until the very end,” he said, ordering chief officers there to push to develop a system that can “completely destroy the enemy’s long-range artillery capabilities within hours of a provocation.”