South Korea Continues Broadcast Propaganda With Loudspeakers To North Korea

Installation of speakers in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. (Source/Joint Press Corps)

JAKARTA - The South Korean military said on Friday it had decided to resume a 24-7 broadcast campaign targeting North Korea in response to what it called the launch of a balloon containing "harassmentary, embarrassing and vulgar" waste across the border by Pyongyang.

The loudspeakers and balloons, which have also been launched by South Korean activists for years by sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets, have become a source of renewed tension between the two Koreas.

The Seoul military said it had decided to restart broadcasts 24/7 after North Korea flew such balloons again on Thursday, as the two Koreas struggled to withstand damage from the monsoon rains.

"These actions clearly violate the ceasefire agreement and constitute an embarrassing and vulgar behavior that could pose a risk to the daily lives of our people," the military said in a statement.

"We strongly urge them to immediately stop such despicable, embarrassing, and vulgar acts," he added, pledging to take tougher action if North Korea continues to deliver balloons of garbage.

Last month, South Korea resumed broadcasts using a large loudspeaker mounted on the border for the first time in six years, after repeated warnings for North Korea to stop shipping garbage, but the broadcast only lasted for a few hours.

With booming propaganda, world news, and K-pop music, the broadcast, which military officials and activists see as an effective form of psychological warfare. It was discontinued based on a peace agreement signed in 2018, but was later declared null and void by both sides as tensions escalated.

Since May, North Korea has flown thousands of balloons with trash bags attached to it, which were carried by the wind to the South and fell in a civilian environment, causing some property damage.