South Korea resumes loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea for the first time in six years

A military installation that previously housed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea stands at the border with Paju City, Gyeonggi-do, on June 9, after the South Korean government‘s resumption of loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea. Yonhap News Agency

The South Korean government‘s resumption of loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea on June 9 was expected in line with the South’s policy toward the North of “keeping peace by force.” As North Korea declared South Korea as a “belligerent state” late last year, many analysts believe that it will respond with high intensity in the name of exercising its right to self-defense.

It is pointed out that measures should be taken to mitigate it as concerns grow that a strong-to-strong confrontation will lead to an accidental military conflict.

Later in the day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea for the first time in about six years. The broadcasts resumed in 2016 following North Korea‘s fourth nuclear test, but were suspended just before the inter-Korean summit in April 2018.

The South Korean military took the stationary loudspeakers out from a storage warehouse, set them up, and began broadcasting. The mobile loudspeakers were reportedly not used. The military has 24 stationary loudspeakers and 16 mobile loudspeakers at frontline General Outposts (GOPs). The loudspeakers have an audible range of 10 to 15 kilometers, but can reportedly extend up to 30 kilometers depending on weather and surrounding terrain. "Whether to conduct additional loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts depends entirely on North Korea's actions," the JCS said. "We strongly urge the North to immediately cease their despicable actions, including the launches of balloons filled with trash.”

The loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts are made through "Voice of Freedom," a radio program run by the Defense Psychological Operation Group. The broadcast, which was transmitted to North Korea from 5 to 7 p.m. through stationary loudspeakers, included the suspension of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement and the announcement that Samsung Electronics‘ mobile phone production ranked first in the world in the first quarter. A song by a duo “Bolbbalgan4” was also played in the middle of the broadcast to explain the difference between the languages of Seoul and Pyongyang. North Korea has been known to be sensitive to describing Kim Jong-un as an "incompetent leader."

The key to the next phase of escalating tensions will be the level of North Korea‘s response to the loudspeaker broadcasts. Concerns are growing that the next step in the conflict phase of "Propaganda leaflets to North Korea → North Korea's trash balloons to South Korea → resumption of loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts" could be an "accidental military conflict. As the government decided to completely suspend the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement on June 5, the safety plate to prevent military conflict has disappeared. The JCS “North Korea again launched an object believed to be a trash balloon, which is moving eastward from the northern region of Gyeonggi Province,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the evening when it conducted a loudspeaker broadcast to North Korea.

Experts believed North Korea would respond with a strong response. They also mentioned the possibility of artillery shelling in the northwestern islands near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) or conducting military provocations using unmanned aerial vehicles. It was analyzed that the possibility of taking out the card to resume propaganda broadcasts to South Korea, which is ineffective, was low.

"There is a possibility that North Korea will respond strongly in terms of exercising its sovereignty,” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

A strong response would likely lead to an accidental conflict. The South Korean military switched to normal work on the holiday and kept a close eye on possible North Korean provocations.

In 2015, the two Koreas came to the brink of conflict due to South Korea’s propaganda broadcasts to North Korea. In August of that year, the South Korean government resumed the broadcasts to North Korea from 11 locations in response to Pyongyang‘s provocation of wooden box mines. In response, North Korea fired a series of high explosive artillery shells south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) from the Western Front, to which the South Korean military responded with dozens of 155 mm artillery shells. The broadcasts have since been suspended as high-level inter-Korean contacts were made at the North’s suggestion.

“Agreements to control the conflict have been broken in both Koreas, so the conflict could escalate,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far East Studies at Kyungnam University. “It is urgent to revive the inter-Korean dialogue channel in case of an accidental military conflict,” said Cho Han-beom, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.