MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Seoul’s decision to partially suspend the inter-Korean military agreement of 2018 in response to the launch of a satellite by North Korea may result in an escalation in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing.
"On November 21, North Korea carried out a pre-announced satellite launch. As we see, all this has prompted a painful response from Seoul, Tokyo and Washington. As a so-called retaliatory measure, the government of the Republic of Korea decided to partially suspend the inter-Korean military agreement of 2018. It plays a crucial part in maintaining stability and preventing armed incidents next to the military demarcation line. Of course, all this is fraught with the risk of spiraling into a large-scale conflict," the diplomat said.
Additionally, Zakharova pointed out that the regional tensions were sparked by the military activity of the United States and its allies.
"Such steps from South Korea cannot but cause disappointment. The escalating tensions around the peninsula are a direct consequence of the aggressive military activity of the United States and its allies that conduct military drills almost non-stop and pump weapons into the subregion," she said.
"As far as Russia is concerned, our country stands for the entire set of problems of the Korean Peninsula being resolved peacefully with purely political and diplomatic tools, without any external pressure and without blackmail," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.