The Republic of Korea will resume operation of loudspeakers on its border with North Korea as an “intolerable measure” in response to the re-sending of garbage balloons from the People’s Republic. The presidential administration announced this.
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On June 9, the National Security Council discussed responses to the launch of garbage balloons from North Korea.
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“It will be difficult for the North Korean regime to tolerate the measures we are taking, but these measures will bring light and hope to the population and army of North Korea. Today we will install loudspeakers and start broadcasting,” the administration of the President of the Republic of Korea said.
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Seoul said that all responsibility for the increase in tension would lie with Pyongyang. The Security Council meeting was attended by the head of the relevant department of the administration, Chang Ho-jin, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yol, Unification Minister Kim Yong-ho and others.
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On June 6 and 7, South Korean defector organizations launched balloons containing propaganda leaflets into the DPRK. The DPRK launched about 330 garbage balloons into South Korea on the night of June 8-9.
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On June 2, North Korea’s Deputy Defense Minister Kim Gang Il said that the Democratic People’s Republic was temporarily stopping sending balloons because the measure was retaliatory. Garbage balloons were launched from the People’s Republic on May 28 and June 1.
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On June 2, the presidential administration said it could resume broadcasting from loudspeakers as an “intolerable measure.”
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The military of the Republic of Korea in the past used loudspeakers as a measure of psychological influence on the army and the population of the DPRK in border areas. With the help of this equipment, criticism of the DPRK system and the country’s top leadership was also disseminated. Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to stop operating loudspeakers at an inter-Korean summit in April 2018 under previous South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who sought dialogue with North Korea.
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Pyongyang was sensitive to this form of political propaganda, South Korean media indicate.
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“They would really not like the reopening of the loudspeakers, because they would broadcast a lot of conversations about the family of Kim Jong-un. The North Korean system does not like materials with such content the most,” commentator Park Sang-gyu previously explained on YTN TV. North Korea conducted similar broadcasts on the border.
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The Republic of Korea used the loudspeakers from 1963 to 2004 and reintroduced them several times in the past decade. According to the military, during the day the sound from the loudspeakers was clearly audible at a distance of up to 10 km. The “broadcast program” included weather forecasts, news about the South and the world, and South Korean popular music. According to some experts, the resumption of broadcasting could lead to increased tension on the Korean Peninsula: in 2015, the DPRK fired at the positions of the South Korean military where this equipment was located.
