Seoul denies North Korea’s claim that it has resumed loudspeaker broadcasts . DPRK accused ROK army of restarting propaganda at border after confrontation in Yellow Sea earlier this week
South Korea has not resumed loudspeaker broadcasts at the inter-Korean border as North Korea claimed earlier this week, a Seoul official told NK News on Wednesday
The DPRK’s Korean People’s Army (KPA) leveled the accusation that South Korea operated propaganda loudspeakers in a statement on Monday, after ships from the two Koreas traded warning shots on Monday and accused the other side of encroaching on their respective maritime territories.
Seoul said Monday that it had sounded warnings against a North Korean merchant ship that crossed the border.
A South Korean military official dismissed the DPRK’s claims on Wednesday. “The ROK military is currently not operating loudspeaker equipment,” they told NK News on condition of anonymity.
But the official added that a week before the KPA statement, ROK forces at the border attempted to alert the North through a “broadcasting device” that a rescue helicopter would fly north of the civilian control line to transport a patient.
Both Koreas agreed to stop loudspeaker operations in April 2018 amid a period of detente. Each side used to have around forty loudspeakers at the inter-Korean border, and South Korean ones blasted diverse content including sports scores, international news, recommendations that North Koreans “quit smoking,” and even K-pop songs across the Demilitarized Zone.
Before 2018, ROK loudspeakers also used to air direct anti-DPRK messages as well.
While around twenty North Korean propaganda loudspeakers appeared to return to the border after the DPRK demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in June 2020, Kim Jong Un ordered a “suspension” of military action plans against the South a few days later, and the speakers were removed.
North Korean soldiers shot at loudspeakers on South Korea’s western frontline in Aug. 2015 during the Park Geun-hye administration. The ROK army fired back with multiple 155mm shells, while nearby border town residents in South Korea temporarily evacuated their homes.
Despite increasing military activity near the inter-Korean border, including North Korean artillery fire, formation flights and air-to-surface strike drills, South Korea has not publicly announced any plans to restart loudspeaker operations.
Edited by Arius Derr
Source:nknews.org/