South Korea says North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along the border

Seoul, South Korea. South Korea’s military said Monday it is detecting signs that North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along its heavily armed border, a day after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over their speakers for the first time in years as rivals engage in a psychological war in the style of the Cold War.

The South’s resumption of its loudspeaker broadcasts on Sunday was retaliation for the North’s dispatch of more than 1,000 balloons full of garbage and manure for the last few weeks. North Korea has described its balloon campaign as a tit for tat against South Korean civil groups by flying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border. Pyongyang has long condemned him because he is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian regime.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately comment on the number of suspected North Korean speakers or where along the border they were seen settling. He said speakers remained silent as of Monday afternoon.

South Korea on Sunday activated its loudspeakers for an initial broadcast to North Korea, which reportedly included news, criticism of the North Korean government and South Korean pop music.

Hours later on Sunday, Kim’s powerful sister warned that the South was creating a “prelude to a very dangerous situation.” She said South Korea would witness an unspecified “new response” from the North if it continues the broadcasts and fails to stop civil activists from sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border.

“I sternly warn Seoul to immediately investigate his dangerous activities that would further provoke a confrontational crisis,” Kim Yo Jong said via state media.

Lee Sung Joon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Kim’s comments represented a heightened verbal threat from North Korea, but did not provide a specific assessment on actions the North might take. Lee said the South was conducting broadcasts in places where soldiers have sufficient protection and are equipped to respond quickly if attacked.

“(We) don’t think they can provoke us so easily,” Lee said during a briefing Monday.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the border area where Sunday’s broadcast took place or what was broadcast over the speakers. He said any further transmission “depends entirely on North Korea’s behavior.”

The South removed loudspeakers from border areas in 2018, during a brief period of engagement with the North under Seoul’s previous liberal government.

In deciding to restart loudspeaker broadcasts, South Korea’s presidential office rebuked Pyongyang for attempting to cause “anxiety and disruption” in the South and emphasized that North Korea would be “solely responsible” for any future escalation of tensions.

North Korea said its balloon campaign came after South Korean activists sent balloons filled with anti-North Korea leaflets as well as USB flash drives filled with popular South Korean songs and dramas. Pyongyang is extremely sensitive to such material and fears it could demoralize frontline troops and residents and eventually weaken leader Kim Jong Un’s grip on power, analysts say.

In 2015, when South Korea restarted loudspeaker broadcasts for the first time in 11 years, North Korea fired artillery rounds across the border, prompting South Korea to return fire, according to South Korean officials. No victims were reported.