South Korea suspends 2018 military pact with North Korea over trash balloon frenzy

Asia-Pacific, News June 4, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

South Korea has approved the suspension of the 2018 military agreement with North Korea after Pyongyang sent hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border, the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. The military agreement was aimed at reducing tensions between Seoul and nuclear-armed North Korea.

South Korea’s Cabinet Council and President Yoon Suk Yeol on June 4, 2024, approved a proposal to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean agreement on lowering front-line military tensions as tensions between the rivals are rising over the North’s recent launch of trash-carrying balloons. The significant military agreement was already partially frozen last year after North Korea launched its first military satellite into space.

“The responsibility for this situation lies solely with North Korea. If North Korea launches additional provocations, our military, in conjunction with the solid the South Korea-U.S. defense posture, will punish North Korea swiftly, strongly and to the end,” said Cho Chang-rae, South Korea’s deputy defense minister for policy.

Earlier, South Korea’s National Security Council said that continued compliance with the deal would present “considerable problems in our military’s readiness posture.” Suspending the agreement would allow the country to conduct training near the military border and take unspecified “immediate measures” if necessary, it said.

The deal, the most significant outcome of months of meetings between the two Koreas during a thaw in relations under South Korean President Moon Jae-in, was partially suspended by Seoul last year after North Korea launched a spy satellite into orbit. Following South Korea’s announcement regarding the suspension, Pyongyang said that it would also no longer adhere to the agreement.

Trash balloons

Since May 28, Pyongyang has sent hundreds of balloons filled with garbage, including cigarette butts and likely manure, into South Korea. This act was claimed to be in retaliation to a similar anti-regime propaganda message campaign by activists in South Korea.

In the last few weeks, South Korean activists have been using balloons towards North Korea filled with anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, and sometimes cash, food, or USB drives loaded with South Korean dramas or popular music.

South Korean soldiers examine trash — ^{South Korean soldiers examine various objects including what appeared to be trash from a balloon believed to have been sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea. (Image Credit: Yonhap/via Reuters)}

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a prominent spokesperson for Pyongyang, mocked South Korea this week for complaining about the balloons. She stated that North Koreans were merely exercising their freedom of expression.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense has not yet specified the exact number of balloons or how many landed in the country. However, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, citing anonymous military sources, reported that as of Saturday night, officials had found hundreds of balloons that had dropped paper, plastic trash, and cigarette butts in areas around the capital, Seoul, and the nearby Gyeonggi province.

The military has advised people to beware of falling objects and to report any suspected items to military or police officers instead of touching them. There have been no reports of injuries or damage.

In Seoul, the city government sent text alerts informing residents that unidentified objects, suspected to have been flown from North Korea, were detected in the skies near the city and that the military was responding.

South Korea’s military deployed chemical rapid response and explosive clearance teams to collect debris from approximately 260 North Korean balloons discovered across the country over the last week. Some balloons were equipped with timers, indicating they were designed to release the trash midair.