North Korea fully suspends military pact with South

BBC News:

North Korea has ripped up a five-year-old deal with Seoul aimed at lowering military tensions, in the latest escalation of a row between the two.

It all started when Pyongyang claimed to have successfully launched a spy satellite into space on Tuesday.

This led to South Korea part suspending the agreement, saying it would resume surveillance flights along the border.

Pyongyang is now vowing to fully suspend the pact and send stronger forces and equipment to the border.

“From now on, our army will never be bound by the September 19 North-South Military Agreement,” it said in a statement.

It promised to withdraw all measures “taken to prevent military conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air”, and deploy “more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware” in the border region.

Pyongyang fired a rocket believed to contain its Malligyong-1 spy satellite late on Tuesday and hailed the launch as a “success”.