South Korea denounces “provocative act” after North Korea launches military surveillance satellite

2023-11-22 20:34:21
In a Seoul station, a television broadcasts images of North Korean leader Kim Jong celebrating the launch of a surveillance satellite, November 22, 2023. JUNG YEON-JE / AFP

In retaliation for Pyongyang’s launch of a surveillance satellite, South Korea is suspending certain provisions of an agreement concluded with North Korea to limit bilateral tensions. Seoul will resume its reconnaissance and surveillance activities around the demilitarized zone (the DMZ, which separates the two Koreas), which had been stopped following the conclusion, in 2018, of the agreement in question.

The decision announced on Wednesday, November 22, follows the announcement by the official North Korean agency KCNA of the placement in orbit the day before of a satellite called Malligyong-1, from the Tongchang-ri launch pad on the west coast of the peninsula.

Washington, which did not confirm the entry into orbit, condemned the latest launch, which “increases tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond”, according to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. In Japan, the population of Okinawa, in the south of the archipelago, received an alert message calling on them to take refuge in solid buildings, as the trajectory of the rocket passed over the territory.

Dialogue at a standstill

“North Korea’s launch of a military satellite constitutes a provocative act that blatantly violates United Nations Security Council resolutions,” reacted the South Korean general staff, also worried about the capabilities offered to Pyongyang by a “spy” satellite and which recognized, ” after analysis “, that the satellite “is considered to be in orbit”, although it remains to be seen whether it works.

In response to this launch, the conservative government in power in Seoul will no longer respect clause 3 of article 1 of the comprehensive military agreement signed in full détente between the two neighbors during the September 2018 summit, in Pyongyang, between the Democratic President, Moon Jae-in (2017-2022), and leader Kim Jong-un. The document established buffer zones along the DMZ and the NLL (the maritime dividing line between the two Koreas, in the Yellow Sea), provided for the cessation of military exercises in the DMZ and the establishment of a joint commission to facilitate regular communication between the two armies and prevent the risk of clashes.

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However, tensions have only been exacerbated since 2022. The North has intensified its missile launches, including Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic models. The South has resumed large-scale military exercises with the United States. The dialogue is at a standstill.

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