Project Sword
On the 8th, the ROK Joint Staff Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as the Joint Staff) officially announced that the DPRK military had carried out artillery bombardment in the western waters for three consecutive days (5 to 7 July) that there would no longer be a buffer zone prohibiting hostilities on land and in the eastern and western seas, and that military shooting and other exercises would be carried out in the area. Following the suspension of the effect of the air no-fly zone between the two Koreas in response to the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite by the DPRK in November last year, South Korea said that there is no longer a sea and land buffer zone and announced the resumption of military exercises. The "9 19 Korea-Korea Military Agreement" has effectively expired, and the danger of occasional clashes between the two countries at the junction of the sea, land, and air is rising. It was pointed out that South Korea should resolutely respond to North Korea's military provocations and at the same time make efforts to manage peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The Joint Staff Headquarters said on the same day that North Korea (November 23 last year) announced the abrogation of the "September 19 military agreement" in the past three days in the buffer zone in the western sea area, and used actions to prove the fact that the buffer zone between the two Koreas no longer exists. As a result, the ROK military will normally carry out activities such as shooting and training in the sea and land buffer zones. This means that there will no longer be buffer zones prohibiting hostilities on land and in the east-west seas. The South Korean side also plans to resume the regular naval artillery exercises of the Marine Corps at Baeknyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island, which were interrupted by the "9 19 Military Agreement". On the 5th of this month, in response to the North Korean shelling in the waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Western Sea, the South Korean Navy's Yeonpyeong Island and Baeknyeong Island units shelled the buffer zone in the South China Sea north of the Northern Limit Line.
Ri Chengjun, director of the communiqué of the Joint Staff Headquarters, said at a news conference on the same day that the DPRK has violated the "September 19 Military Agreement" more than 3,600 times. The September 19 Military Agreement signed between the two Koreas in 2018 includes the cessation of hostilities in all areas of land, sea and air, the demilitarization of the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (JSA), the removal of mutual surveillance posts (GPs) in the DMZ, the joint exhumation of the remains of South Korean (DPRK) war martyrs, and the joint use of the Han River estuary. The core content of the agreement is to prevent the occasional armed conflict between the two Koreas from turning into a full-scale war, and to establish a sea, land, and air buffer zone in the border areas between the two Koreas and cease hostilities.
On November 21, 2023, after North Korea announced the successful launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, South Korea** said the next day that it would suspend the effect of the "no-fly zone" clause in the 9/19 military agreement. In response, on November 23, the DPRK declared the 9/19 military agreement null and void, reinstated the frontmost surveillance posts dismantled under the military agreement, and rearmed the Panmunjom joint security area. Since the 5th of this month, North Korea has also resumed shelling into the buffer zone in the West Sea. South Korea's Joint Staff Headquarters announced that there will no longer be a land and sea buffer zone between the two Koreas. As a result, the risk of occasional clashes in the sea, land, and air border areas where the ROK's military forces are concentrated has further increased. The November 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island was triggered by North Korea's demand that South Korean Marine Corps units stop shelling exercises.
The ROK side held a joint military exercise between the ROK and the United States at the end of last year, and last week held the ROK Army's artillery firing exercise, naval artillery drills in the eastern, western, and South China Sea waters, and a maritime maneuver exercise. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-hyun stressed that "when the enemy launches a provocation, it will be turned into scorched earth" and will resolutely respond to it based on the principle of "immediate, forceful, and countermeasures to the end." Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, said at the end of last month that in the event of an emergency, all physical means and forces, including nuclear force, will be mobilized to continue to intensify preparations for major changes in the entire area of South Korea (South Korea). Some observers believe that North Korea's behavior of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula will continue during South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. elections in November.
Cho Sung-yeol, a visiting professor at ** Graduate School University who served as the South Korean Consul General in Osaka, Japan, said that when the United States and Japan accuse North Korea of provocation, they will definitely say that "the door to dialogue is open" and strive to manage peace on the Korean Peninsula. But South Korea has closed the door to dialogue that has been opened through the 9/19 military agreement, among other things. He also pointed out that since last fall, the United States has actively established cooperation with China to prevent conflicts on the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait by November this year, so Yoon Suk-yeol**'s hardline policy toward the DPRK is also incompatible with the international situation. Former Unification Minister Lee Hong-gu also exhorted Unification Minister Kim Yeong-ho at the New Year's greeting meeting held at the Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the same day, and urged Unification Minister Kim Yeong-ho that in order to resolve the current crisis, first-class departments at all levels should actively work for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue.