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North Korea installing loudspeakers along border, South Korea says

  • South Korea’s military said it suspects North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along its border after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over its loudspeakers.
  • This is the latest development in a series of escalations that includes North Korea sending more than 1,000 balloons containing garbage and manure to the South.
  • The United States and South Korea have been meeting to discuss nuclear deterrence strategies to counter growing threats from North 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 propaganda broadcasts against Pyongyang for its speakers for the first time in years as rivals engage in the Cold War. -psychological warfare style.

The South’s resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts on Sunday was retaliation for the North sending more than 1,000 balloons filled with garbage and dung over the past two weeks. North Korea has described its balloon campaign as a response to South Korean civilian groups using balloons to launch anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border. Pyongyang has long condemned such activities because it is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule.

The tit-for-tat over loudspeakers and balloons has deepened tensions between the two Koreas, while talks over the North’s nuclear ambitions remain stalled.

SOUTH KOREA REMAINS WATCH FOR MORE NORTH KOREA GARBAGE BALLOONS AFTER VOWING TO REPRISATE

In their latest nuclear planning talks in Seoul, U.S. and South Korean officials reviewed an undisclosed guideline that outlines their nuclear deterrence strategies to counter growing threats from North Korea. They also discussed strengthening the allies’ combined military training involving U.S. strategic assets, participants said at a news conference.

Cho Chang-rae, South Korea’s vice minister of defense for policy, and Vipin Narang, acting undersecretary of defense for space policy, declined to comment specifically when asked to assess the threat posed by balloon activities. from North Korea.

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 Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers installed for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, on May 1, 2018. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP, file)

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 had created 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 cease its 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.

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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.


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