The presidential office said Friday that keeping or annulling the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement will depend on North Korea’s “attitude.”

The remark suggests the presidential office could scrap the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) signed in September 2018 if North Korea continues to stage provocations in violation of the terms.

South Korea earlier described the North’s Friday artillery firing into maritime buffer zones off its east and west coasts as a clear violation of the agreement.

“Our government respects the agreements that have been reached until now between the South and the North, and of course, we believe North Korea should also respect the agreements,” a presidential official told reporters.
“However, it was the North Korean side that violated the Sept. 19 military agreement today, and therefore, when it comes to whether the Sept. 19 agreement will be maintained or annulled, it ultimately depends on North Korea’s attitude,” the official added.

Calls have grown within the ruling People Power Party to scrap the agreement signed after a 2018 summit between then President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as Pyongyang has intensified its missile launches and other provocations in recent weeks.

The buffer zones where North Korea’s artillery shots landed were delineated under the CMA.

President Yoon Suk-yeol was asked by reporters earlier Friday whether he regards the artillery firing as a violation of the CMA.

“We’re looking into everything one by one,” he said. “But it’s correct that it’s a violation of the Sept. 19 accord.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency