South Korea is stepping up surveillance and suspending part of a 2018 military agreement with North Korea after it defied U.S. warnings and launched a spy satellite, TVP World reports.
The suspension of a clause in the agreement will prompt South Korea to step up military surveillance along its heavily fortified border with North Korea.
South Korea's army said Pyongyang's military reconnaissance satellite was assessed to have entered orbit, but it would take time to determine whether it was operating normally.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on a state visit to Britain, approved the suspension of part of the agreement with North Korea. Earlier, Yoon chaired a National Security Council meeting with ministers and the intelligence chief via video link.
The pact between North and South Korea, known as the "Comprehensive Military Agreement" and aimed at de-escalating tensions between them, was signed at a 2018 summit between then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North's Kim.
Critics say the pact weakens Seoul's ability to monitor the North near the border while North Korea has violated the agreement.
South Korean officials said the launch likely involved Russian technical assistance under a growing partnership in which North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells. Russia and North Korea have denied arms deals but pledged deeper cooperation. / BGNES
