SEOUL, South Korea – Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated once again as South Korea announces its decision to restart anti-North Korean propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border. This move comes as a response to North Korea’s recent actions of dropping trash on the South using balloons. Following an emergency security meeting led by South Korean national security director Chang Ho-jin, officials have decided to install and commence the loudspeaker broadcasts in border areas on Sunday, according to a statement released by Seoul’s presidential office.
South Korean security officials have strongly criticized Pyongyang for causing “anxiety and disruption” in South Korea. They have emphasized that North Korea will bear full responsibility for any further escalation of tensions between the two Koreas. North Korea has been retaliating against South Korean civilian leafletting campaigns by sending over 1,000 balloons carrying trash and manure to the South, further straining diplomatic relations amid a stalemate over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The resumption of South Korea’s loudspeaker broadcasts was anticipated following the suspension of a 2018 tension-easing agreement with North Korea. This suspension allowed for the South to restart propaganda campaigns and potentially conduct live-fire military exercises in border areas. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported detecting North Korea launching around 330 balloons toward the South, with about 80 being found in South Korean territory by Sunday morning.
The balloons that landed in South Korea contained plastic and paper waste, although no hazardous substances were discovered. In response, South Korea’s military has mobilized chemical rapid response and explosive clearance units to retrieve the North Korean balloons and materials. The public has been advised to be cautious of falling objects and to report any found balloons to authorities rather than touching them. North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, stated that the country would halt the balloon campaign but threatened to resume it if South Korean activists continued sending leaflets across the border.
In defiance of North Korea’s warning, South Korean civilian groups led by defectors have launched balloons carrying anti-North Korean leaflets, USB sticks with K-pop songs and South Korean dramas, and even $1 U.S. bills. South Korean officials have condemned North Korea’s recent actions as “absurd” and “irrational,” vowing strong retaliation. The use of loudspeakers by South Korea to broadcast anti-Pyongyang messages, K-pop, and outside news could further provoke North Korea, which is sensitive to such broadcasts as it fears they may undermine leader Kim Jong Un’s grip on power.
Kim Jong Un’s intensifying campaign to eliminate South Korean cultural influences and reinforce North Korea’s separate identity may be aimed at solidifying the Kim family’s dynastic rule. The balloon campaign by North Korea could also be an attempt to create division within South Korea over its government’s stance on North Korea. Liberal lawmakers, civic groups, and residents in South Korea have called on the government to discourage leafleting activists from flying balloons to avoid clashes with North Korea. However, government officials have refrained from doing so, citing a constitutional court ruling that declared a law criminalizing anti-North Korea leafleting as a violation of free speech.