The South Korean military has restored and deployed troops to many front-line guard posts (GPs) that were demolished according to the 9·19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement.
Lee Sung Jun, Chief of Public Affairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a regular briefing on the 30th, “North Korea virtually declared complete scrapping of the 9·19 Military Agreement at the end of last year and is carrying out military restoration measures. In response, our military is taking corresponding and necessary measures.”
He added, “We are taking sufficient measures to ensure the safety of soldiers conducting search and ambush operations within the DMZ.”
In the regular briefing the day before, he also stated, “We are cooperating closely with the UNC on the normalization of our side’s GP.”
Previously, as part of the implementation of the 9·19 Military Agreement, South and North Korea each selected 11 GPs within the DMZ, completely dismantled 10 GPs, preserved their original shape, and withdrew troops and equipment from the remaining one.
However, after declaring a complete nullification of the 9·19 Military Agreement in November last year, North Korea restored the demolished GPs and simultaneously deployed troops and equipment. Our military also began restoring the GPs in January of this year.
A significant number of the 10 GPs that our military completely dismantled have been restored, and troops have been stationed and searched. Ambush operations are reportedly being conducted as needed near these GPs.
Meanwhile, Officer Lee explained that there are no imminent signs of North Korea’s launch of the second military reconnaissance satellite, and our military is analyzing the background of North Korea’s delayed launch.