South Korea to resume loudspeaker propaganda in response to the North’s balloon barrage

Seoul says ‘the responsibility for the escalation of tension between the two Koreas will be entirely up to the North’

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South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers in 2018 that set up for propaganda broadcasts near the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea. Photo: AP

Published: 2:11pm, 9 Jun 2024

South Korea announced on Sunday that it would resume loudspeaker propaganda campaigns against the North, after Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.

“We will install loudspeakers against North Korea today and carry out the broadcast,” the president’s office said in a statement.

It added that “the responsibility for the escalation of tension between the two Koreas will be entirely up to the North”.

North Korea sent more than 300 trash-filled balloons across the border in a fresh blitz starting Saturday, Seoul’s military said, with the president’s office saying this had forced it to take “corresponding measures”.

“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 added.

In recent weeks, activists in the South have floated dozens of balloons bearing K-pop, dollar bills and anti-Kim Jong-un propaganda northwards, infuriating Pyongyang which has retaliated in kind.

South Korea to resume loudspeaker propaganda in response to the North’s balloon barrage

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Seoul says ‘the responsibility for the escalation of tension between the two Koreas will be entirely up to the North’

Seoul says ‘the responsibility for the escalation of tension between the two Koreas will be entirely up to the North’