In the JSA = Joint Security Area in Panmunjom on the military demarcation line between South Korea and North Korea, North Korean soldiers in charge of security resumed carrying handguns, contrary to the agreement to demilitarize under the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. The measures appear to be in response to North Korea's announcement that it will not be bound by the agreement in the future.
According to South Korean military officials, North Korean soldiers on guard at the JSA = Joint Security Area in Panmunjom on the military demarcation line between North and South Korea have resumed carrying handguns since the second half of last week.
Regarding the JSA, the two Koreas agreed to demilitarize in the 2018 military agreement, but the actions of the North Korean military are unilaterally contrary to the agreement, and the South Korean news agency, Yonhap News, reports that the South Korean side may also rearm if this situation continues.
South Korean military officials also revealed that the number of artillery cannons that the North Korean military has opened on the Yellow Sea coast on the western side of the Korean Peninsula has risen from one or two to more than 1 in recent years.
Earlier, the South Korean military announced that it was restoring an observation post that North Korea had once removed near the military demarcation line.
In response to North Korea's launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on the 2st of this month, the South Korean government partially suspended the effect of the military agreement, but the North Korean Ministry of Defense has announced that it will not be bound by the agreement in the future.