Anchor: North Korea says it too will not be bound by the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement after South Korea partially suspended the deal in response to Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite on Tuesday. The reclusive state also continued to engage in armed provocations, launching a ballistic missile in late hours on Wednesday.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: North Korea’s defense ministry announced on Thursday that it will no longer be restrained by the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at defusing cross-border tensions.

In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the ministry added that it will restore all military measures halted in compliance with the 2018 accord and will place strong forces and advanced military equipment in border areas.

The announcement came after South Korea partially suspended the inter-Korean military deal and restored air surveillance and reconnaissance activities from 3 p.m. Wednesday in response to the North's military spy satellite launch conducted on Tuesday.

Pyongyang’s defense ministry added that South Korea will be held entirely responsible if an irrevocable clash occurs between the two countries, claiming that the launch of the spy satellite was an exercise in sovereignty as such a measure falls under its right to self-defense.

Following the North’s statement, South Korean defense minister Shin Won-sik on Thursday vowed to take an immediate and powerful retaliatory action, should the North choose to engage in provocations. Shin was speaking to lawmakers during a defense committee plenary session.

Pyongyang’s statement also came several hours after the North launched an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday night.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday that the missile was fired from the Sunan area of Pyongyang at 11:05 p.m. Wednesday, adding that the launch appears to have failed.

The JCS said that the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting an analysis of the launch.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.