South Korea yesterday resumes loudspeaker propaganda campaigns against North Korea after Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years with analysts warning the escalatory cycle could end in actual military skirmishes.
Seoul this month suspended a 2018 military deal aimed at reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang sent hundreds of balloons carrying bags of garbage, including cigarette butts and plastic waste.
Photo: AP
Pyongyang said its fresh balloon campaign came after South Korean activists sent over balloons filled with anti-North Korean leaflets, and USB sticks filled with popular South Korean songs and dramas.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the military conducted a loudspeaker broadcast yesterday afternoon.
It did not specify the border area where it took place or what was played over the speakers.
Photo: AFP / the South Korean Ministry of National Defense
“Whether our military conducts an additional loudspeaker broadcast is entirely dependent on North Korea’s behavior,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The South Korean Office of the President described the move as “corresponding measures” for the more than 300 trash-filled balloons that Pyongyang sent across the border in a fresh blitz that started on Saturday.
“Although the measures we are taking may be difficult for the North Korean regime to endure, they will deliver messages of light and hope to the North Korean military and citizens,” it said.
Pyongyang sent nearly a thousand balloons across the border from late last month before calling off its campaign early this month.
The Seoul City Government, as well as officials in surrounding Gyeonggi Province, sent out a text alert to residents on Saturday warning about the new balloons.
“North Korea is making another low-class provocation with trash balloons against our civilian areas,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on Facebook.
The loudspeaker broadcasts, a tactic which dates back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, infuriate Pyongyang, which has previously threatened artillery strikes against the loudspeaker units unless they were switched off.
Additional reporting by AP
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