South Korea told its northern neighbor Tuesday that they can’t toss out the armistice that’s been in place since 1953 and advised the North to soften its rhetoric.
“Unilateral abrogation or termination of the armistice agreement is not allowed under its regulations or according to international law,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young, in a CNN report.
The spokesman also vowed that the South would continue to honor its peace agreement, regardless of the North’s actions.
“[Seoul will] absolutely keep the armistice agreement as well as strengthen consultation and cooperation with the United States and China, who are also concerned parties of the armistice,” the foreign ministry spokesman said, in a CNN report. “We demand North Korea withdraw remarks threatening stability and peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region.”
North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war. The Korean conflict, which ran 1950-1953, ended by armistice — and now North Korea is threatening to end the peace agreement. The nation has cut its hotline communications with the South, at the same time the South is engaging in joint military exercises with the United States.
Meanwhile, CBS reports, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has visited his frontline troops and told them to be on “maximum alert” for war. A North Korean media outlet said Tuesday that the young leader personally told artillery troops that “war can break out right now,” CBS reported.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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