South Korea to resume loudspeaker broadcasts along DMZ

South Korea's Director of National Security Chang Ho-jin enters a briefing room at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Presidential office warns of 'measures North Korea cannot withstand'By Kwak Yeon-soo, Nam Hyun-woo

The South Korean government is set to resume loudspeaker broadcasts along the inter-Korean border as a response to North Korea's recent releases of nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash into the South. Seoul’s national security advisor warned Sunday of “measures that the North cannot withstand.”

“The North’s recent hostilities are low-level, petty provocations,” Director of National Security Chang Ho-jin said in a press briefing after presiding over a National Security Council meeting, referring to the North’s balloon provocations, GPS jamming and ballistic missile launch last week.

He labeled the trash dumping via balloons and GPS jamming attack as "irrational and unreasonable provocative acts that a normal country would never contemplate."

“Following the meeting, we will employ measures that the North cannot withstand, and we clearly warn that the regime should stop sending balloons and jamming GPS. Should these provocations continue, our response will become even stronger.”

South Korean soldiers dismantle stacked loudspeakers in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in this May 2018 photo. Joint Press Corps

Chang did not explicitly mention loudspeaker operations during the briefing, while a senior official in the South Korean government indicated that such an option was not ruled out. The official emphasized that there would be necessary procedures to follow for such actions.

“We won't delay in implementing the necessary measures, and you will see them put into action very soon, because we think (a prompt employment) will be effective,” the official said. “It seems Pyongyang is attempting to affect the structure of our North Korea policies by unnerving the general public, but I can clearly say that such dirty tactics won’t be effective.”

According to government sources, preparations are underway for loudspeaker operations and several other measures, comparable to the actions involving the trash-carrying balloons and GPS jamming. To facilitate this, the government intends to discuss the "nullification or suspension of relevant inter-Korean agreements" at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

The agreements are assumed to be the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement and the Panmunjeom Declaration signed by then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, where the two Koreas agreed to “stop all hostile acts including the loudspeaker broadcasts and the scattering of leaflets in areas along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas.”

It remains uncertain whether those agreements will be fully nullified or partially suspended, but sources said the South Korean government is seeking to take whatever measures are necessary to resume loudspeaker operations.

The South Korean military used to operate loudspeakers as part of its psychological warfare tactics against North Korea. It carried broadcasts on weather, K-pop and news critical of the North Korean regime, leading Pyongyang to express strong opposition due to possible effects on its military and the general public.

NSC decides to suspend 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact following NK trash-carrying balloon campaign 2024-06-03 10:39  |  Defense North Korea says it will stop sending trash-filled balloons, will resume if South Korea sends leaflets 2024-06-03 07:34  |  North Korea NK sends 720 more trash-carrying balloons to S. Korea, continues GPS jamming for 5 days 2024-06-01 21:10  |  North Korea Vehicle damaged by balloons from N. Korea 2024-06-02 15:04  |  North Korea

Following the 2018 agreements, the South Korean military suspended loudspeaker operations, but Pyongyang has disregarded such pacts by persisting in military provocations.

In November last year, South Korea suspended a part of the 2018 military agreement after the North’s military spy satellite launch. In response, the North ended the agreement and continued its missile provocations. Most recently, the regime sent balloons laden with various forms of waste, including cigarette butts, paper, plastic bags and bottles.

South Korean service members use mine detectors to inspect debris from one of the trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea that landed in Jung District of Incheon, Sunday. The North has sent nearly 1,000 balloons carrying various types of waste, such as cigarette butts and plastic bags, toward South Korea since last week, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Yonhap

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sunday, the North has sent at least 720 trash-carrying balloons that floated across the MDL and fell in various parts of the South, including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and even as far as North Gyeongsang Province, since 8 p.m. Saturday.

This came after Pyongyang had already sent around 260 similar balloons to the South last Tuesday and Wednesday.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, admitted that flying hundreds of balloons across the border was a “government-led” action.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, shared the view during their talks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Sunday, that North Korea's launch of the trash-laden balloons constitutes a violation of the Armistice Agreement set in 1953, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

They pledged support for an investigation by the United Nations Command (UNC).

Then-South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, front row left, and North Korean Minister of the People's Armed Forces No Kwang-chol, front row right, pose after signing an inter-Korean military agreement during the inter-Korean summit between then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in, back row left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, Sept. 19, 2018. Joint Press Corps

Experts, however, are divided over the effectiveness of resuming the use of the loudspeakers.

Moon Seong-mook, the chief of the Unification Strategy Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, asserted that the government needs to consider the option as a top priority.

“The loudspeakers are an effective tool to pressure North Korea. I bet North Korea will continue its aggressive acts, but there is no reason to shy away from what you need to do because you’re afraid of its consequences,” Moon said.

“North Korea failed to keep its promises from the April 2018 Panmunjeom Declaration, redefining inter-Korean relations as two states hostile to each other and continuing military provocations. The president has the authority to change related laws, and once he makes the decision, the military should be ready to take necessary steps.”

However, Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University, said using the loudspeakers could ratchet up tensions further on the Korean Peninsula.

“If we resume loudspeaker broadcasts, it is clear that North Korea will respond sensitively to the matter. That will inevitably increase tensions on the peninsula, which will unnerve residents living near the border area,” Lim said.

The loudspeakers have been a hot-button issue between the two Koreas, leading to many disputes over the decades. Both sides have deployed speakers to direct propaganda at one another, and the North Korean regime has, on many occasions, responded sensitively to the matter.

(责任编辑：资讯)