Tensions Escalate: South Korea to Restart Loudspeaker Broadcasts Targeting North Korea

The South Korean government is set to resume loudspeaker broadcasts in North Korea. This is a confrontation move to North Korea’s dispersal of over 330 garbage balloons on the 8th and 9th.

Under the guidance of National Security Advisor Chang Ho Jin, the South Korean Presidential Office convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) Permanent Committee. During this meeting, they decided to install loudspeakers and commence broadcasts directed toward North Korea within the same day.

The Presidential Office stated, “We cannot tolerate any attempts to incite anxiety among our citizens and chaos in our society. Although the measures we are taking may be hard for the North Korean regime to bear, they will bring news of light and hope to North Korean soldiers and residents.” They also warned, “The responsibility for any escalation of tension between inter-Korea rests entirely with North Korea.”

North Korea launched garbage balloons toward South Korea on two separate occasions, using the distribution of propaganda leaflets by South Korean civilian groups as a pretext. At the end of last month and the beginning of this month, approximately 1,000 such balloons were identified in South Korea. Subsequently, after South Korean civilian groups sent leaflets northward using giant balloons on the 6th and 7th, North Korea responded by once again dispersing garbage balloons toward the South.

Meanwhile, according to South Korean military authorities, a significant number of the garbage balloons dispersed by North Korea on the 8th and 9th fell into the sea or onto North Korean territory. Similar to the first and second times, the garbage balloons were attached to trash, such as waste paper and plastic. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, “Our analysis found no materials that would pose a safety risk.”