North Korea said Thursday it will "restore all military measures" near the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas in response to Seoul's resumption of reconnaissance and surveillance activities following a spy satellite launch by Pyongyang.
The South Korean military said the same day that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan late Wednesday but the launch appeared to have failed.
The North Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement the country "will immediately restore all military measures" that had been halted following a 2018 agreement with South Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
A day after South Korea partially suspended the accord, signed to ease bilateral tensions, the ministry said the country's army "will never be bound" by it.
The latest ballistic missile was fired from the Sunan area of Pyongyang around 11:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to the South Korean military. Further details, such as the distance the projectile flew, remain unknown.
North Korea said it successfully placed a Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit late Tuesday on a Chollima-1 rocket, and that it will officially begin operating the satellite on Dec. 1.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major economies criticized North Korea, saying even if it was characterized as that of a satellite, any launch by Pyongyang using ballistic missile technology violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.
In the statement carried by KCNA, the North said, "We will withdraw the military steps, taken to prevent military tension and conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air, and deploy more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware in the region along the Military Demarcation Line."
Pyongyang accused Seoul of making a "serious mistake," saying the situation in the area along the demarcation line has become "irreversibly uncontrollable."
Related coverage:
North Korea says satellite to start reconnaissance mission from Dec.
South Korea to partially suspend inter-Korean military pact with North
North Korea claims it successfully put satellite into orbit
