South Korean Unification Minister Kim Young-ho stressed that South Korea needs to take into account the current security situation when deciding whether to suspend the de-escalation agreement with North Korea.
Kim said: “Some elements of the agreement could work against South Korea, because they overly restrict the operation of our surveillance,” according to what the South Korean “Yonhap” agency reported.
The agency stated that the renewed interest in the military agreement came against the backdrop of the Palestinian-Israeli escalation, which led to renewed South Korean concerns about Seoul’s capabilities to confront a possible attack from North Korea.
Kim said that the government has not yet decided whether to suspend the agreement or abandon it, noting that the issue should be discussed wisely at the National Security Council meeting.
The agreement, signed under former President Moon Jae-in, called for the establishment of buffer zones along land and sea borders and the establishment of no-fly zones.
According to the agency, Pyongyang violated the agreement 17 times until the end of last year, including 15 violations last year alone.
Nearly 18,000 war refugees have been added in a week
Sagaing Division, who are fleeing because of the fighting On April 21, 2023, seeing the war refugees from Insywa.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA-Myanmar) announced on October 12 that the number of war refugees increased by nearly 18,000 in the last week of September due to conflicts and insecurity in Myanmar.
About 4,800 people were displaced in the southeast of the country, and about 13,000 people fled due to the fighting in Sagaing and Magwe, according to the statement.
Due to the fighting in Fruso Township, Kayah State, the locals are fleeing into the nearby forests. He said food and other basic items are in urgent need.
UN-OCHA said that since the end of September, the main roads in Kayah State have been blocked, and villages along the Shan-Kayah border are short of social relief supplies and hampering humanitarian access.
In the first half of this year, humanitarian partners have helped 700,000 refugees, he said.
According to UNOCHA's statistics, there are nearly two million internally displaced persons across Myanmar, of which nearly 1.7 million are those who fled their homes due to the conflict and insecurity that occurred after the coup.