Can South Korea, North Korea..

Updated : 2025-09-19 12:38:10 KST

Sep 19. 2025

Can South Korea, North Korea revive military deal to make peace?

Seven years ago today, on September 19th 2018 the two Koreas signed a military agreement, suspending military activities near the border. But last year, the deal was scrapped under the previous administration and the Lee administration is now seeking to restore it to ease inter-Korean tensions. Our Oh Soo-young explains what the deal entailed, and what it will take to restore it. Signed in 2018, the September 19th inter-Korean military pact aimed to lower tensions along one of the world's most heavily armed borders the inter-Korean military demarcation line.

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entail 수반하다(involve)

demarcation line 휴전선

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Amid dialogue between South and North Korea, then-President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to cease hostilities across land, air and sea, moving quickly to remove front-line guard posts and work towards the demilitarization of the inter-Korean border. They also banned artillery drills and large-scale field exercises near the border, and created buffer zones at sea, prohibiting live-fire training and naval maneuvers. In the air, the pact established no-fly zones to stop reconnaissance flights and live-fire exercises. The two Koreas further agreed to work on joint recovery of war remains, and the shared use of the Hangang River estuary.

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demilitarization 비무장화

maneuver [ məˈnuːvə(r) ]군사[기동] 훈련

reconnaissance [rɪ|kɑːnɪsns] 정찰

war remains 전쟁 유적

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However, after the U.S.–North Korea summit in Hanoi broke down in February 2019, Pyongyang resumed missile launches, and later that year, a coastal artillery drill in the West Sea, violating the inter-Korean pact. Tensions further rose in 2022, when five North Korean drones entered the South's airspace, breaking the agreement's ban on hostile aerial acts, and the North in 2023 launched a military reconnaissance satellite, violating UN Security Council resolutions. This prompted Seoul to partially suspend the no-fly zones, and decide on resuming surveillance flights along the border.

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The next day, North Korea declared it would terminate the agreement. After the regime flew a series of trash-carrying balloons to the South, Seoul also declared an end to the agreement in June last year. While North Korea has continued to seek a nuclear state status, and develop its weapons of mass destruction, South Korea's new government this year is seeking to build trust and diplomacy with Pyongyang. After a series of dovish gestures since his inauguration, President Lee Jae Myung last month ordered ministries to work towards restoring the September military agreement "proactively, in stages."

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terminate 끝내다, 종료하다

dovish 온건한, 평화를 열망하는

proactively 사전 대비한, 상황을 앞서서 주도하는, 사전 대책을 강구하는

in stages 단계적으로

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"The essence of the pact is not so much removing the security risk, but it's the most basic safety apparatus to prevent accidental clashes or war from breaking out. So it doesn't necessarily resolve the situation, but without it, the situation is much more dangerous." While proponents deem it an essential confidence-building and risk-reduction measure, others have long voiced concerns that given the North's track record of quite literally blowing up deals, South Korea would only be letting its guard down.In any case, North Korea for now seems disinterested in rapprochement, particularly as the North is benefiting from aiding Russia's war in Ukraine.

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not so much …정도는 아닌

apparatus [ |æpə|rætəs ]기구, 장치

proponent 지지자 (=advocate)

blow up 폭파하다, 터뜨리다

rapprochement [|ræproʊʃ│mɑːn;]

화해[관계 회복]

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"If the war ends quickly, North Korea–U.S. dialogue will draw closer, and the possibility of inter-Korean dialogue cannot be ruled out. However, if the negotiations to end the Ukraine war stretch on, North Korea will maintain its stance of treating the South and the U.S. as hostile states, applying pressure on the South." With inter-Korean relations elusive, the fate of the dormant agreement also remains uncertain. But what's clear is that conditions on the Korean Peninsula, and its surrounding geopolitical environment have changed vastly over the past seven years, making terms for military restraint that much harder, but perhaps all the more necessary. Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.