South Korea Responds to North Korea’s Trash Balloons with Loudspeaker Broadcasts
In response to North Korea sending hundreds of balloons filled with trash across the border, South Korea has taken action: the neighboring country is being bombarded with loudspeaker broadcasts – an old tactic of psychological warfare.
South Korea is taking measures after balloons filled with trash were flown over the border from North Korea. The military has once again set up loudspeaker systems at the border and begun broadcasting messages towards North Korea. This afternoon, the South Korean military carried out a loudspeaker broadcast, the army general staff announced. Whether there will be further broadcasts depends on North Korea’s actions.
The resumption of broadcasts at the border with the neighboring country was previously announced by the South Korean presidential office.
The National Security Council accused North Korea of wanting to create unrest and confusion in South Korean society with its behavior. South Korea will therefore respond to the balloon actions with appropriate measures. „We make it clear that the responsibility for any escalation of tensions between the two states lies entirely with North Korea,“ it said.
Between Saturday and Sunday morning, about 330 „trash balloons“ from North Korea once again rose, the general staff in Seoul reported. More than 80 of them landed on South Korean territory. The rest likely did not reach their target. The attached bags contained, among other things, waste paper and plastic.
North Korea’s balloon actions are a response to activities by South Korean groups that repeatedly send flyers and other propaganda material with huge balloons across the border. In the flyers, they criticize the leadership in Pyongyang. The actions of the groups, some of which were founded by North Korean defectors, are controversial in South Korea.
According to reports in South Korean media, two different groups undertook such flyer campaigns on Thursday and Friday. Pyongyang usually reacts sensitively to external propaganda.
The announced and already implemented broadcasting is not new, it is considered an old tactic of psychological warfare: South Korea had sent loud pop music and criticism of the leadership in Pyongyang across the border for years. The range of the broadcast systems was over 20 kilometers.
Six years ago, there was a summit meeting between the then South Korean President Moon Jae In and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, then the loudspeaker systems on both sides of the border were removed.
In 2018, a bilateral military agreement on confidence-building measures was reached. North Korea terminated this agreement last November. The country accuses South Korea of hostilities. Eventually, South Korea also suspended the military agreement – paving the way to resume military exercises near the military demarcation line and loudspeaker broadcasts.
After a period of de-escalation, the conflict on the Korean Peninsula has now gained significant momentum. Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has also been testing nuclear-capable missiles and other weapons more intensively. South Korea and the USA have expanded their military cooperation.