In response to increasing military provocations by North Korea, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has threatened to suspend a military agreement between the two countries from autumn 2018.

It is the clearest sign yet that the policy of inter-Korean rapprochement pursued by former President Moon Jae-in has failed.

In the 2018 military agreement, the governments pledged to refrain from hostile activities against each other.

Patrick Welter

Correspondent for business and politics in Japan based in Tokyo.

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The deal was struck during South Korea's Moon's third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in September 2018.

It is considered one of the most important results of Moon's policy of rapprochement.

Agreements included military buffer zones around the demarcation line, the dismantling of guard posts in the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea, and the gradual disarmament of soldiers in the Panmunjom ceasefire.

North Korea sends drones south

Current Conservative President Yoon on Wednesday instructed the national security bureau to consider suspending the deal in the event North Korea invades South Korean territory again, according to a spokeswoman.

According to South Korean media reports, a resumption of loudspeaker propaganda in the direction of North Korea cannot be ruled out either.

At the end of December, North Korea sent five drones to South Korea, which stayed in South Korean airspace for around 5 hours.

One of the drones had reached the north of the South Korean capital Seoul.

The drone flight exposed weaknesses in South Korea's defenses.

The military failed to shoot down the drones.

A light attack aircraft crashed during the operation.

South Korea later sent its own drones into North Korean airspace in response.

The government in Seoul had previously discovered North Korean drones over South Korean territory in 2014 and 2017.

15 violations of the agreement since October

According to South Korea, the Kim regime has broken the military agreement a total of 17 times, 15 of them since last October.

Violations include an artillery shelling aimed at South Korea near the border and a ballistic missile that landed in South Korean waters.

In turn, North Korea sees the major military maneuvers that South Korea and the United States have resumed this year as a threat and could see them as a violation of the military agreement.

Yoon threatens a suspension of the agreement, not an exit from the agreement.

In violation of United Nations requirements, North Korea shot down more missiles than ever before last year, including ICBMs.

It is suspected in South Korea that the Kim regime is preparing another nuclear bomb test.

At the New Year, Kim announced that he would "exponentially increase" the country's nuclear arsenal and develop a new ICBM.

Kim described South Korea as an opponent and held out the prospect of mass production of tactical nuclear weapons.

South Korea discusses nuclear weapons

North Korea, but also China, is meanwhile strengthening military cooperation with South Korea, the United States and Japan.

Japan and South Korea are considering sharing real-time radar information on the trajectories of North Korean missiles, with the American Indo-Pacific Command serving as a liaison.

This was reported by the Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri".

In the past, South Korea and Japan have sometimes given different accounts of North Korean missile launches.

In view of the threat from North Korea, South Korea is discussing whether the country can still rely on the United States' nuclear protective shield or whether it needs its own nuclear weapons.

Yoon said earlier this week that his administration was in talks with the United States about "joint nuclear maneuvers."

This was clearly denied by American President Joe Biden because South Korea is not a nuclear-weapon state.

According to American information, the partners are discussing an extended exchange of information, joint emergency planning and coordination exercises at the green table.