North may be installing anti-South loudspeakers as balloon blitz continues

The South Korean military said Monday it observed moves by the North to install anti-South loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border, a day after Seoul resumed anti-North radio broadcasts through loudspeakers on Sunday.

South Korean soldiers conduct a drill on operating loudspeakers mounted on military vehicles in a file photo. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday that such a drill for moving, installing and operating loudspeakers for anti-Pyongyang broadcasts took place for the first time since 2018. [JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF]

The South Korean military said Monday it observed moves by the North to install anti-South loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border, a day after Seoul resumed anti-North radio broadcasts through loudspeakers on Sunday.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that anti-North loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border are being operated “flexibly” based on “strategic and tactical situations” after receiving hundreds of waste-laden balloons over the weekend.

The JCS said it would not operate the anti-Pyongyang loudspeakers on Monday. However, it told reporters that the military is "ready to resume the broadcasts immediately if North Korea engages in despicable behavior."

The South Korean military said Pyongyang flew more than 310 trash-laden balloons over the inter-Korean border between Sunday night and Monday morning in the fourth round of such launches.

The JCS reported that the balloons carried trash, such as plastic and waste paper. Analysis has yet to detect hazardous substances.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday that three balloons were discovered in Yongsan District, where the presidential office is located.

One of the three landed on the National Museum of Korea compound, 800 meters (0.49 miles) away from the presidential office. Two others were found at Yongsan District Office and near Itaewon Station.

The metropolitan police said 89 balloons were found inside the capital between Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday.

The balloons' reappearance surprised South Koreans in the greater Seoul area and regions along the border. The head of one village in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi, said residents "live in fear" and asked the two sides to ease the confrontation.

More than 1,600 balloons have arrived in South Korea in four launches since last month.

The third and fourth rounds of balloon intrusions happened after Seoul-based human rights advocacy groups sent anti-regime leaflets to the North on Friday.

North Korea flew around 330 balloons into the South in its third launch between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

A military soldier inspects a loudspeaker-controlling machine last week in a photo released by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday. [JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF]

In response to the North’s balloon launches, the South Korean military resumed loudspeaker broadcasts on Sunday.

These were the first such broadcasts in six years since the speakers were disassembled in 2018.

“[The military] is conducting operations in a timely manner, taking as much time as needed, considering variables such as downtime for loudspeakers,” JCS spokesman Col. Lee Sung-jun told reporters at a regular press briefing on Monday.

The broadcasts carry messages denouncing the North for its militaristic behavior and authoritarian rule.

On Sunday, a two-hour radio program, "Voice of Freedom,” produced by a military psychological warfare unit, echoed through the loudspeakers from 4:55 p.m.

After opening with the South Korean national anthem, the broadcast covered the recent suspension of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement approved by the South Korean Cabinet and President Yoon Suk Yeol.

It also said that North Korea has become a center of global criticism, citing joint condemnation by South Korea, the United States and Japan of the North's nuclear program, ballistic missile launches and military cooperation with Russia. The three countries criticized the North during the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors Meeting last Tuesday.

The broadcast also conveyed the South’s economic achievements. It mentioned Samsung Electronics' recent besting of global rivals in quarterly shipment volume in 38 countries.

The broadcasts also included South Korean pop songs. The playlist included hit songs by boy band BTS, namely, “Butter” (2021), “Dynamite” (2020) and “Spring Day” (2017).

In particular, "Spring Day" includes metaphors and symbols of hope, with lyrics such as “The sun will rise again” and “No darkness, [and] no season can last forever.”

The large speakers facing the North can transmit up to 24 kilometers (14 miles) from their installation spots. This feature allows most North Korean soldiers stationed in border areas to hear the South’s messages.

However, the South Korean military said it "spotted moves by the North to install anti-South speakers" along the border. The authorities said such measures could be intended to interrupt the clear delivery of the South’s messages.

Firefighters respond to a balloon found on the roof of a residential complex in Incheon on Sunday. [INCHEON FIRE SERVICES]

On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, said that Seoul will “undoubtedly witness the new counteraction” from Pyongyang, adding that the South's moves, such as resuming loudspeaker broadcasts in border areas, have “changed the situation.”

In an English-language statement released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, she “sternly warned” the South to halt the loudspeaker broadcasts, calling them a “dangerous act bringing further confrontation.”

While blaming Seoul, Kim defended the North’s balloon launches and claimed it committed no “political” aggression in sending waste paper to the South.

She said the North “scattered 7.5 tons of waste paper with more than 1,400 balloons” in the South from Saturday to Sunday evening.

She also said South Koreans would “suffer the bitter embarrassment of picking up waste paper without rest as daily work” if Seoul continues to send anti-regime materials and operate the loudspeakers.

On Monday, the South's government said it was working to pass a bill to help affected people recover from damages caused by the balloons.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gyeonggi provincial government have said they will swiftly fund recovery efforts utilizing local budgets.

Eight cases of damage have been reported to the authorities so far. Interior Minister Lee Sang-min would announce a detailed support plan during a Tuesday cabinet meeting.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, CHUNG YEONG-GYO, CHOI MO-RAN [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]