South Korea to Resume All Military Activities Along Demarcation Line 

North Korean propaganda village Kaepoong is seen from above a South Korean guard post near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, June 4, 2024. (Reuters)
North Korean propaganda village Kaepoong is seen from above a South Korean guard post near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, June 4, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
20

South Korea to Resume All Military Activities Along Demarcation Line 

North Korean propaganda village Kaepoong is seen from above a South Korean guard post near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, June 4, 2024. (Reuters)
North Korean propaganda village Kaepoong is seen from above a South Korean guard post near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, June 4, 2024. (Reuters)

South Korea's military on Tuesday said it would resume all military activities along the demarcation line separating the two Koreas and the North West Islands after suspending an inter-Korean military agreement.

The suspension of the military agreement with the North, which President Yoon Suk Yeol approved earlier on Tuesday, is in response to North Korea's decision to send hundreds of balloons carrying trash over the border.

"The South Korean military makes it clear that it will take all necessary measures to protect the lives and safety of its people in response to North Korea's provocations," a defense ministry official said in an emergency briefing.

The large-scale spraying of filth balloons has "seriously threatened the safety of our people and caused property damage", the official added.

Pyongyang on Sunday said it had sent up 15 tons of wastepaper using 3,500 balloons, while Seoul vowed "unendurable" measures against the North in response, which could include blaring propaganda from loudspeakers directed at the North.

Under the military pact, both countries agreed to "completely cease all hostile acts against each other" that are the source of military tension and conflict, through measures such as the two sides ending military drills near the border.

It was the most substantive deal to come out of months of historic summit meetings between the two Koreas in 2018, but had been all but scrapped when Pyongyang declared last year it was no longer bound by it.

Since then, the North has deployed troops and weapons at guard posts near the military border.

About 50 North Koreans were seen from the South on Tuesday building up a fence, stretching a few hundred meters, leading to a guard post located on a border hill, according to a Reuters witness.



Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
TT
20

Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Four people are set to appear in a London courtroom on Thursday over charges connected with an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters damaged two Royal Air Force planes with red paint and crowbars.

The charges come after the group Palestine Action said two of its members entered RAF Brize Norton on June 20 and used electric scooters to approach two Voyager jets used for air-to-air refueling. The protesters used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray paint into the planes’ jet engines and caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage of the incident, The Associated Press said.

The four, all between the ages of 22 and 35, are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the UK, counter-terror police said in a statement. The Crown Prosecution Service will argue that that the offenses have a “terrorist connection,” police said.

Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for a series of incidents targeting Israeli defense contractors in the UK and other sites linked to the war in Gaza. Following the incident at RAF Brize Norton, the government introduced legislation to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. The measure means it will be a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action rejects that assertion, saying its protests are designed to end international support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Planes from Brize Norton, 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of London, regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain’s main air base for operations in the Middle East.