South Korea has weighed in on North Korea’s decision to dump literal garbage across its southern border Withdrawal from a 2018 contract The two were designed to de-escalate military tensions.
Last week, North Korea deployed hundreds of trash balloons containing everything Used toilet paper per cigarette butta step It is demand response With South Korean workers sending balloons Political pamphlets and USB drive with K-Drama. The trash balloon marks the latest spat between the two countries as their relationship with North Korea has grown more tense in recent years. Satellite launch, Tactics of ground troopsAnd weapons test.
South Korea said Monday that the balloons are urging it to consider withdrawing from the 2018 accord entirely so it can respond more effectively to North Korean provocations.
But it would be a somewhat symbolic move; North Korea has already pulled out of the 2018 accord and South Korea has already partially suspended it in 2023. Still, the development reflects the current hostile climate between the two countries. In the run-up to the 2022 election of conservative President Eun Suk-yeol, South Korea is on the rise Take a tough stance As North has ramped up his aggression. And while experts say the possibility of a direct collision between the two is limited, more collisions are now possible.
“Officially suspended with the 2018 deal[ed]The potential for increased military activity and a greater risk of incidents or clashes along heavily defended borders is expected,” said Su Mi Terry, a senior fellow in Korea Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The logic behind North Korea’s trash balloons
North Korean officials have long expressed anger over balloons from the South carrying political information and cultural goods banned by the regime. These packets Usually sent by private individualsincluding North Koreans who have moved to the South In addition, workers are also trying to build resistance.
Because North Koreans are closed off from the outside world and have little access to political or cultural information, South Korean balloons are an attempt by activists to combat these limitations. According to North Korean officialsThe trash balloons were meant to show the South Koreans how annoying these deliveries were and to push back on these efforts overall.
“Kim [Jong Un] He does not want his people to know about their relative deprivation and standard of living in the free world. He fears BTS more than US nukes,” Georgetown government professor Victor Cha told Vox.
The trash balloons – which have risen in areas around Seoul and Gyeonggi – add to the opposition’s moves since reconciliation efforts collapsed in 2019. The latest example of them being used as part of balloons is also an attack by one country against another: in World War II, Japan used balloons Contains explosives aimed at the United States and during the invasion of Afghanistan, The United States also used balloons for surveillance.
North and South Korea made progress with their Comprehensive Military Agreement in 2018, establishing a buffer zone along their border where military action cannot be taken. But in the years since, the North has pushed the limits of the treaty by talking up its missile tests and nuclear capabilities, while the South has elected a president who wants to take a more confrontational stance. In 2023, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 agreement due to North Korea’s decision to launch a spy satellite. That same year, North Korea declared the treaty illegal.
“It’s kind of a tit-for-tat performance in every way,” said USC international relations professor David Kang, an expert on Korean policy.
About sending a message suspending the contract
South Korea has said it plans to suspend the military agreement until there is “mutual trust”. Officials argued That policy change would enable the country to better respond to the North by supporting “military training in areas around the Demilitarized Demarcation Line” and “a more adequate and prompt response to North Korean provocations.”
Since both sides have effectively already distanced themselves from the deal, the latest announcement only formalizes the already existing reality.
If the agreement is officially suspended, however, more aggressive activities across the countries’ borders, including South Korean music broadcasts and promotions and military exercises, could escalate. In the past there was North Korea Loudspeaker shot Playing K-pop music from the South.
North Korea’s strategy and South Korea’s decision to pull out of the 2018 accord indicate how far the two are currently wedged, with neither side interested in renewing rapprochement efforts at this point.
