Agenda for Suspension of Effectiveness to Be Submitted at the Cabinet Meeting on the 4th
The Presidential Office decided on the 3rd to suspend the entire effectiveness of the September 19 military agreement in response to North Korea's 'filth balloon' dispersal.
The Presidential Office's National Security Office announced that on the morning of the same day, it held an NSC working-level coordination meeting chaired by Kim Tae-hyo, Secretary General of the National Security Council (NSC) and First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, to discuss the implementation plan for the NSC emergency standing committee decision made the previous day.
The meeting participants evaluated that recent provocations by North Korea are causing actual harm and threats to our citizens, and that the September 19 military agreement, which has become virtually null and void due to North Korea's de facto declaration of abandonment, is causing many problems in our military's readiness posture.
Accordingly, the meeting decided to submit an agenda to the Cabinet meeting on the 4th to suspend the entire effectiveness of the September 19 military agreement until mutual trust between the South and the North is restored.
The Presidential Office explained, "This measure is just and lawful according to the procedures stipulated by our law," adding, "It will enable military training around the Military Demarcation Line, which has been restricted by the September 19 military agreement, and allow more sufficient and immediate responses to North Korea's provocations."
It further added, "The government will take all necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of our citizens."
At around 10:22 a.m. on the 2nd, a balloon carrying waste, presumed to have come from North Korea, fell in the parking lot of a villa in Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The meeting participants also agreed to take additional corresponding measures if North Korea continues its provocations. The results of the meeting were reported to President Yoon Suk-yeol and the NSC standing committee members.
Attendees included Secretary General Kim, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-gyun, Deputy Defense Minister Kim Sun-ho, Second Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hwang Won-jin, Director of Unification Policy at the Ministry of Unification Kim Byung-dae, and Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office In Sung-hwan.
Earlier, Jang Ho-jin, Director of the National Security Office, held a briefing on the results of the NSC standing committee emergency meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon of the previous day, stating regarding North Korea's filth balloon provocations, "We have decided to take measures that North Korea will find difficult to endure."
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