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| ▲ This photo, taken Oct. 9, 2022, shows a news report on a North Korean missile launch being aired on a TV at Seoul Station in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
rival parties-N Korea
Ruling, main opposition parties condemn N. Korea's recent provocations
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling and main opposition parties on Friday condemned a flurry of North Korea's recent provocations, calling for Pyongyang to halt such hostile actions.
Between Thursday and Friday, North Korea flew about 10 military planes close to the border with South Korea, conducted artillery firings off the east and west coasts, and launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea.
The move was the latest in the barrage of threatening military actions by Pyongyang in recent weeks, including the firing of an intermediate-range missile over Japan on Oct. 4.
"North Korea fired artillery shots into maritime buffer zones in the East and Yellow Seas this morning after continuing provocations over the past three weeks. ... It is a clear violation of the Sept. 19 military agreement," said Yang Kum-hee, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) chief spokesperson.
"If North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test, we should seriously consider renouncing the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the Sept. 19 agreement," Yang said.
The Sept. 19 agreement was signed after a 2018 summit between then President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and calls for halting all hostile military activity between the two Koreas.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) spokesperson, Lim O-kyeong, also denounced such actions, warning North Korea can lose its standing in the international society.
The PPP, however, blamed the former administration's North Korean policies as part of the reasons the level of Pyongyang's provocations has escalated.
"People have been deceived again by North Korea and the Democratic Party's 'fake peace show,'" Yang said.
The DP, on the other hand, slammed Yoon Suk-yeol government's response to the North Korean threats, saying its unilateral sanction on the North lacks effectiveness.
On Friday, Seoul's foreign ministry said it has put 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions on its blacklist in its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years.
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