North Korea warned on Monday that it would continue to exercise its sovereign rights, including the launch of satellites, while reports indicate that its forces are repairing some of the demolished guard posts along the border with South Korea. The Korean Central News Agency reported that the Foreign Ministry stated that last week's satellite launch was motivated by the need to monitor the United States and its allies. The agency's report said, "This is a legal and just way to exercise its right to self-defense and to conduct comprehensive responses and close monitoring of the dangerous military activities carried out by the United States and its followers."
North Korea, which is armed with nuclear weapons, launched the satellite on Tuesday and claimed it successfully entered orbit and is transmitting images, but defense officials and analysts in South Korea said its capabilities have not been independently verified. The launch prompted South Korea to suspend a key provision in the 2018 military agreement between the two Koreas and to resume aerial surveillance near the border. The South Korean Defense Ministry reported that North Korean soldiers were seen returning heavy weapons to the border of the demilitarized zone and establishing guard posts that had been demolished by both sides under the agreement. South Korea estimates that its northern neighbor had about 160 guard posts along the demilitarized zone, while the south had 60. Each side had demolished 11 of them after the military agreement signed in 2018, aimed at easing tensions and preventing military clashes.
