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Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

S. Korea to consider scrapping 'buffer zone' pact with DPRK: President

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 4 Jan 2023 10:07
3 Min Read

South Korea's President instructs his security aides to consider suspending a 2018 agreement with the DPRK should it carries out another "provocation".

  • x
  • South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (AP)
    South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Wednesday that he would consider suspending a 2018 agreement that created maritime buffer zones with North Korea (the DPRK), should Pyongyang "violate" Seoul's territory again.

Struck during a period of high-profile diplomacy at a summit in Pyongyang, the deal aimed to reduce military tensions along the heavily fortified border.

At the time, the two sides agreed to "cease various military exercises aimed at each other along the military demarcation line."

South Korea claimed the DPRK fired artillery shots into the maritime "buffer zones" multiple times in 2022 and sent five drones across the border into South Korean airspace last week.

North Korea says its shelling this afternoon was a "tit for tat" response to South Korean military activity, says KCNA. pic.twitter.com/j9xkzjWkvC

— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) December 5, 2022

This prompted growing calls from Seoul's ruling-party parliamentarians to scrap the four-year-old deal, inked under then-President Moon Jae-in.

On Wednesday, Yoon instructed his security aides "to consider suspending the military agreement if the North carries out another provocation violating our territory," spokesperson Kim Eun-hye told reporters. 

Yoon also called for "a large-scale production of small-size drones that are hard to be detected by the end of the year" and the creation of a multi-purpose drone unit for an "overwhelming counter-offensive capability."

The DPRK's drone mission, the first in five years, prompted an apology from Seoul's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup after the military failed to shoot down any of the unmanned aircraft despite scrambling jets for a five-hour operation.

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DPRK warns of escalation after South Korean warning shots at DMZ

South Korea aims to ease tensions, DPRK labels talks 'false dream'

Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP that scrapping the 2018 deal would "increase the chance of heightened military tensions and an actual clash in border areas."

According to Hong, despite Pyongyang "violating" the deal, the agreement still helped with "preventing a major military clash."

"It will be a much different story if Yoon puts an official, political end to the agreement," he indicated.

In the same context, South Korea's presidential office said Seoul and Washington are discussing joint planning and exercises involving US nuclear assets to counter growing "North Korean threats" after US President Joe Biden said no such joint drills would take place.

Yoon's office said  the two security allies are "in talks over information-sharing, joint planning and the joint implementation plans that follow with regard to the operation of US nuclear assets to respond to North Korea's nuclear weapons."

On New Year's Eve, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un accused Washington and Seoul of carrying out "a plot to isolate and stifle" Pyongyang, which is "unparalleled in human history," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Kim explained that the circumstances required Pyongyang to "double down our efforts to develop our military power overwhelmingly" and "to safeguard our sovereignty, safety, and basic national interest to cope with the dangerous military moves by the US and other hostile forces that target us."

"It highlights the importance and necessity of mass producing tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the nation's nuclear arsenal," he added.

This comes after South Korea's military said the DPRK fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan in the first test fire in 2023, Yonhap news agency reported.

Read more: South Korea ‘lacks’ military readiness: President

  • Seoul
  • Pyongyang
  • DPRK
  • North Korea
  • Yoon Suk-Yeol
  • South Korea

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