 "South Korea, loudspeaker, North Korea")
Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated, marked by provocative exchanges of loudspeaker broadcasts and balloon campaigns across the border.
What began as South Korea’s response to over 1,000 balloons filled with trash and manure sent by the North has evolved into a battle of loudspeakers, reminiscent of Cold War-style psychological warfare.
On Monday, South Korea’s military reported signs that the North is installing its own loudspeakers along their heavily armed border. This came a day after South Korea resumed anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over its speakers for the first time in 11 years.
As the rivals engage in this loudspeaker warfare, concerns over potential military responses and the impact on diplomatic negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are growing.
The loudspeaker battle
The conflict intensified when South Korea resumed broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda through loudspeakers in border areas on Sunday. The broadcasts reportedly included news, criticism of North Korea’s government, and South Korean pop music. This move was in response to North Korea’s recent balloon campaign.
More From This Section
Hours later, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued a warning, calling South Korea’s actions a “prelude to a very dangerous situation.”
She threatened that the North would retaliate with a “new response” if the broadcasts continued and urged the South to stop civilian activists from flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.
“I sternly warn Seoul to immediately cease its dangerous activities that would further provoke a crisis of confrontation,” Kim Yo Jong said through North Korean state media.
Last week, a South Korean civilian group led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak said it launched 10 balloons carrying 200,000 anti-North Korean leaflets, USB sticks with K-pop songs and K-dramas, and $1 bills.
South Korean media reported that another activist group also flew balloons with 200,000 propaganda leaflets toward North Korea on Friday.
Responding to North Korea’s warning, South Korea’s military spokesperson, Lee Sung Joon, acknowledged the heightened verbal threat. However, he assured that the South was prepared to defend itself. He also emphasised that the broadcasts were conducted in areas where soldiers had sufficient protection and could swiftly retaliate if attacked.
“We don’t think that they could provoke us that easily,” Lee said during a briefing on Monday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the border area where Sunday’s broadcast took place or what was played over the speakers. It stated that any additional broadcasts are “entirely dependent on North Korea’s behaviour.”
Kim Yo Jong alleged the North used about 1,400 balloons to drop 7.5 tonnes of trash over the weekend. She added that the North had initially planned to stop its balloon launches on Sunday but decided to send more because the South restarted loudspeaker broadcasts.
History of provocations
This is not the first time tensions have flared between the two Koreas over loudspeaker broadcasts and balloon campaigns. In 2015, when South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts after an 11-year hiatus, North Korea responded by firing artillery rounds across the border, leading to a brief exchange of fire. However, no casualties were reported.
South Korea had withdrawn the loudspeakers from border areas in 2018 during a brief period of engagement with North Korea under Seoul’s previous liberal government. . However, after North Korea’s balloon campaign irked the South, it suspended a 2018 agreement to reduce hostile acts along the border, allowing for the resumption of propaganda campaigns and potential live-fire military exercises.
After it began loudspeaker broadcasts on Sunday, South Korea’s presidential office berated Pyongyang for attempting to cause “anxiety and disruption” in the South and stressed that North Korea would be “solely responsible” for any future escalation of tensions.
