The South Korean government has officially decided to fully suspend a military agreement designed to ease tensions with North Korea. The pact was signed by the previous South Korean administration in 2018.

At the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government decided to suspend the pact until mutual trust is restored. President Yoon Suk-yeol later endorsed the decision.

The move follows North Korea's recent provocative actions. The North has sent massive balloons filled with trash and excrement into the South and attempted to jam GPS signals in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula since late last month.

South Korean defense ministry sources say they plan to resume military training near the demarcation line separating the two Koreas and areas around islands.

They also say they are ready to restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward the North at any time, depending on the situation.

North Korea has not reacted since the South confirmed its intention to suspend the pact on Monday. But more provocations by the North are likely to follow Seoul's official decision.

A group of North Korean defectors in South Korea says it wants to fly balloons to the North carrying leaflets critical of the North's leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korea's Unification Ministry sources say the ministry will not call for restraint on the matter.