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On November 23, 2023, North Korea declared the complete termination of
the 9.19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement (hereafter the 9.19 agreement),
stating that North Korea “would immediately restore all military measures
had been halted under the (9.19) agreement.” Furthermore, North Korea
also threatened that it would “deploy more powerful armed forces and new
military hardware forward in the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).”
Previously, the ROK and North Korea held the 3rd inter-Korean summit meeting in Pyongyang
and signed a military agreement on September 19, 2018. The purpose was to alleviate military
tensions between the two Koreas and build trust, thereby effectively erasing the threat of war on
the Korean peninsula. To this end, the two Koreas agreed to the principle of effectively ceasing
all hostile acts against each other in every domain, including land, air, and sea. At the time, there
were hopes that the agreement, in addition to negotiations on North Korean denuclearization that
were also ongoing, would lead to a substantial alleviation of tensions. However, the agreement
has been voided just five years later due to North Korea’s recent announcement.
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