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North Korean soldiers appear to be painting a wooden observatory at the top of a guard post on the eastern border with South Korea following the rescinding of the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military agreement. (courtesy of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense)

The North Korean military has restored 11 front-line guard posts (GPs) in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that it withdrew in accordance with the Sept. 19 comprehensive military agreement of 2018, staffing them with troops and bringing in heavy weapons such as recoilless guns, South Korean military officials said on Monday.

The move followed South Korea’s suspension of the no-fly zone stipulated by the Sept. 19 agreement (Nov. 22) in response to North Korea’s launch of a military reconnaissance satellite (Nov. 21), and North Korea’s announcement that it would be deploying troops and military equipment along the Military Demarcation Line (Nov. 23).

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was briefed on North Korea’s developments and ordered to “maintain a staunch military readiness posture,” while the military warned of “corresponding measures.” Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been rising amid a flurry of concrete actions and reactions by both Koreas that effectively render the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement void.

A South Korean military official told reporters on Monday that the military had “identified structures believed to be observation posts (OPs) on 11 guard posts in the DMZ that the North Korean military withdrew from under the Sept. 19 military agreement.” The official said that since Friday, heavy weapons have been brought into the area, and activities including daytime and nighttime guard duty have also been observed.

In their Sept. 19 inter-Korean military pact signed in 2018, North and South Korea agreed to withdraw all GPs along the DMZ. As a preliminary measure, each side withdrew 11 GPs that lay within 1 kilometer of each other in the DMZ — that is, within the range of rifle and machine gun fire. North Korea is estimated to have in excess of 150 such guard posts in the DMZ. By November 2018, North Korea had demolished 10 of the 11 GPs it had selected for withdrawal, leaving one in place, but disarmed, for historical preservation purposes.

Photos released by the South Korean military show that North Korea has constructed a wooden structure, believed to be an observation post, above a demolished GP. They also reveal the presence of what appear to be recoilless rifles in GPs that North Korea had disarmed. Additionally, the photos show North Korean troops standing guard at night in border bases. These photos show a North Korean GP along the eastern front that had been demolished according to the inter-Korean military pact.

Shortly after returning from official visits to France and the United Kingdom, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol received national security reports from National Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Myung-soo.

Yoon reportedly ordered military personnel to “keep a keen eye on North Korea’s activity and maintain a staunch military readiness posture to ensure our citizens feel safe.”

“We will muster all necessary military preparations at once in response to North Korea’s restoration of its GPs,” announced Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense.

Addressing reporters, the Joint Chiefs chairman said South Korea will take “corresponding measures” in response to North Korea’s actions, suggesting that South Korea may also move to reinstate its posts in the DMZ.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter; Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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