SEOUL, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Monday reiterated his call to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement as he inspected a Marine Corps unit on a border island, his office said.
Shin made the call during his visit to the unit on the northwestern island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea, citing the agreement’s impact on limiting military drills in the area, according to the ministry.
The Comprehensive Military Agreement, signed under the previous liberal President Moon Jae-in who sought inter-Korean reconciliation, includes setting up maritime buffer zones that ban artillery firing and naval drills.
“I understand that there are considerable difficulties in maintaining a combat readiness posture as firing drills of major weapons have been halted in the northwestern islands,” he was quoted as saying. “(We) will correct this through the suspension of the flawed Sept. 19 agreement.”
Shin, who took office on Oct. 7, has repeatedly made calls to suspend the agreement.
During the visit, the minister also instructed troops to punish the enemy “immediately, strongly, and until the end” in the case of a provocation, the ministry said.
In November 2010, North Korea fired artillery shells at the island, killing two Marines and two civilians.
Source: Yonhap News Agency