This weekend marks the third anniversary of the signing of the comprehensive military agreement between North Korea and South Korea, often dubbed the 9/19 Military Agreement. Despite the recent military provocations by North Korea, the South Korean Ministry of Defense is continuing to argue that the “the agreement brought peace to the region.”
Observers are questioning the Defense Ministry’s preparedness as it continues to dispute basic facts about North Korea’s threatening military buildup.
Cho Yong-geun, a one-star General from the South Korean Army and director of North Korean policy at the Ministry of Defense, gave an interview with the Korean Defense Daily newspaper published by the ministry on September 17 where he defended the controversial inter-Korean military agreement.
He was the chief negotiator from the South Korean side when the two countries signed the military agreement in 2018. “After the signing of the 9/19 Military Agreement, there was not a single North Korean patrol ship that crossed the Northern Limit Line,” he said. “It is significant and meaningful that North Korea is keeping to the military agreement near the border area.”
He then mentioned North Korea’s demolition of the Kaesong inter-Korean liaison office last year.
“We were very concerned when North Korea demolished the liaison office and announced its military action plan against South Korea last year, but North Korea withdrew the plan and the agreement to mutually suspend hostile acts is faithfully implemented,” he argued. “We assess that North Korea still is willing [to implement the military agreement].”
Cho failed to mention the killing of a South Korean civil servant, North Korea’s latest missile tests and the resumption of activity at the Yongbyon reactor. In November 2019, North Korea conducted a drill using coastal artillery from its west coast. This was a clear violation of the 9/19 agreement, but Cho did not mention this fact. The agreement states that the two Koreas will suspend all kinds of hostile acts in all areas, including land, sea, and air, which have been the cause of military tension and conflict.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that experts were concerned that even the Ministry of Defense is neglecting its duty and trying to appease the Moon Jae-in administration. The presidential Blue House is taking a submissive approach toward the North and appears to be obsessed with its failed Korean Peninsula peace process. Shin Beom-cheol, director of the Research Institute for Economy and Society, told the newspaper that, “It is inappropriate for the Ministry of Defense to provide comments praising themselves.” He added, “This is something that the Ministry of Unification or politicians from the ruling party would do.”
“The Defense Ministry should be more serious in maintaining military preparedness as it continues to fail to detect movement from North Korea.” North Korea conducted a cruise missile test just last weekend. This test went unnoticed by both South Korean and U.S. military authorities until the North’s state news agency announced it.
Ironically, it was the pro-Pyongyang South Korean Ministry of Unification whose stance seemed to acknowledge the unfavorable situation in relations with North Korea.
“Unfortunately, peace on the Korean Peninsula has not taken a step forward and has even stopped (when viewed) from 3 years ago,” Unification Minister Lee In-young said at a seminar held to celebrate the third anniversary of the military agreement with North Korea. “The environment for talks and cooperation is not being easily created. However, the government should take a long-term approach to bring peace on the peninsula, even if it takes a long time.” Lee mentioned the concerns caused by North Korea’s recent missile launches, but strangely stated that “our will for peace is becoming more solid.”
Cha Deok-cheol, a vice spokesman from the Unification Ministry held a briefing on September 17. Cho said, “We think it is unfortunate that we are not seeing much progress in implementing the agreement signed in September 2019.” He argued that the Joint Declaration announced in Pyongyang in September 2019 set the groundwork to improve inter-Korean relations to a new level and discuss the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“The government has continuously worked on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and achieving permanent peace and improvement in inter-Korean relations based on the September Joint Declaration.” He added that the government understands that they are not seeing much progress in implementing the agreement, but “we will continue to work on implementing the agreement, since it needs implementation to become fully successful.”
Rep. Cho Myung-hee from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticized the Moon administration for its apparently submissive approach toward the North and silence about the recent missile launches. “What our people need is the government’s decisive commitment to defend national security and the military’s clear military preparedness, not a fake peace scheme,” she said on September 17. “I urge President Moon Jae-in to stop acting like a lawyer for the North Korean regime. He needs to explain North Korea’s repeated military provocations and what kind of decisive measures he will take to the people himself.”
Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat and current lawmaker from the PPP, said that North Korea’s latest “railway-borne missile system” would pose a significant threat to South Korea’s national security. He argued that the transporter erector launcher (TEL) could be spotted by American satellites, but the railway system is hard to track since it is difficult to differentiate it from trains used by civilians.
Thae then mentioned the Unification Ministry’s statement on September 16 that said cooperation on the inter-Korean railway system was agreed upon by the leaders of the two Koreas.
“I cannot find a word to describe how I think when looking at the Moon Jae-in administration,” said Thae. “It says they will pursue railway projects despite the reality of North Korea diversifying its missile launching methods by testing it from trains.”
He pointed out that the Moon Jae-in administration is trying to modernize the North Korean railway infrastructure through various measures such as constructing tunnels with less humidity.
“The modernized North Korean railway system could be used for military purposes,” he said. “The Moon administration should refrain from thinking that they need to pursue everything that was agreed upon with Kim Jong-un and think thoroughly about whether the railway project will be misused for diversifying and advancing the North Korean nuclear program that will bring about the complete destruction of our blood.”
The latest news reveals that even the Defense Ministry, which is meant to offer harsh deterrence to North Korea, is bending its knee to Pyongyang and lowering its guard along with the rest of the Moon administration.
