SEOUL - In a significant escalation of inter-Korean tensions, South Korea's military has increased the intensity of its loudspeaker broadcasts across the border with North Korea, blaring K-pop hits and news in a strategic psychological campaign. This response comes amid a series of provocations involving North Korean "trash balloons" intended as psychological warfare.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the full-scale loudspeaker operations, which began broadcasting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, include popular songs from BTS such as "Dynamite" and "Butter," and are designed to encourage defections from North Korean soldiers stationed near the border. This latest psychological operation is a direct countermeasure to over 2,000 balloons filled with trash that North Korea has launched into South Korea across multiple incidents, in retaliation for anti-Pyongyang leaflets distributed by North Korean defectors using similar methods.
The broadcasts, which started intermittently as early as 6 a.m. and continued until 10 p.m., are part of a broader South Korean strategy to assert psychological pressure in response to what it views as escalating military tension by North Korea. The JCS highlighted that these actions by the North could have severe repercussions and that the responsibility for any escalation rests with the North Korean regime.
Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party and sister to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has vocally criticized the South Korean tactics, warning of dire consequences if the leaflet campaigns do not cease. Her threats have underscored the fragile nature of inter-Korean relations, which have previously seen violent flare-ups, such as the 2015 exchange of artillery fire and the 2014 machine gun exchanges over propaganda balloons.
The JCS also reported new launches of trash balloons by North Korea on Sunday, with debris expected to land in northern parts of Gyeonggi Province, surrounding Seoul. Authorities have advised the public against touching the balloons and to report any sightings to the military or police for safety reasons.
The use of loudspeakers at the border was resumed by South Korea on June 9 for the first time in six years but was briefly paused to avoid further escalating tensions. This resumed again on Thursday as North Korea continued its balloon launches, signaling a hardened stance against what it perceives as attempts by the South to undermine the Kim Jong-un regime through the spread of external information.