On the 4th, the People Power Party announced that it would push for an amendment to the Civil Defense Law that provides a basis for the state or local governments to compensate for property damage caused by North Korea’s garbage balloon dispersion.
Floor Leader Choo Kyung Ho mentioned at the in-house countermeasures meeting held at the National Assembly this morning, “Damage to citizens, such as vehicle damage, has occurred due to North Korea’s garbage balloon provocation. However, damage recovery cannot be done as legal grounds for compensation have not been established.”
Regarding the issue of suspending the entire effect of the 9/19 military agreement that was rendered ineffective by North Korea’s declaration of abandonment the day before, Choo said, “Today, at the cabinet meeting, a proposal to suspend the effect of the 9/19 military agreement until mutual trust is restored between South Korea and North Korea is put forward,” and “This is an inevitable countermeasure to protect the safety of the people in response to the garbage balloon dispersion that took place within a week.”
He stated that in the current situation, the opposition party, including the Democratic Party, is blaming the government for North Korea’s provocations involving garbage balloons and advocating for peace at the expense of the 9/19 agreement, which North Korea has violated several times.
He criticized the Democratic Party for treating the government as if it were a hostile nation, accusing them of crediting themselves while pointing out these repeated violations. He argued that if the opposition believes the correct response to North Korean provocations is inaction, it is instead appropriate to respond when the safety of the citizens is at risk.
Choo also emphasized, “The Democratic Party claims that we should continue the dialogue with North Korea, but the current North Korean regime has not stopped provocation and has conducted all kinds of missile tests,” and “Even when North Korea blew up the South-North joint liaison office building, it couldn’t open its mouth properly. North Korea will continue to raise the level of tension in response to our government and cause domestic conflict.”
The day before, the Office of National Security announced that it would propose suspending the entire effect of the 9/19 inter-Korean Military Agreement, including North Korea’s garbage balloon dispersion and GPS disruption, as a cabinet meeting agenda item at the NSC working coordination meeting chaired by Kim Tae Hyo, the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (NSC).
The 9/19 agreement has been practically incapacitated as North Korea continues to air and seaborne attacks even though the agreement was signed as a measure to ease military tensions in inter-Korean significantly.
Meanwhile, since the 28th of last month, North Korea has flown more than 1,000 garbage balloons toward the South, causing damage in some areas. The government initially decided to refrain from countermeasures, but the trend has changed to a hard-line response as North Korea’s provocation intensity has increased and civilian damage has continued.
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