Kim Yo Jong Says Loudspeakers Against the South to Be on Standby Within Days, New Countermeasures on Combat Duty Along Entire Border
SEOUL — North Korea will place loudspeakers targeting South Korea on standby along the entire border within days and has put new countermeasures on combat duty, Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, October 22, according to Reuters. She warned that if Seoul continues what Pyongyang calls interference, it would face "the most horrible and distressing situation."
It was Kim's second statement within hours. According to Yonhap News Agency, she defended the North's border fortification project, saying that "if the border is fortified, the danger of military conflict in this area will undoubtedly be eliminated," and that the North Korean army "is carrying out a crucial and great undertaking in the face of the enemy's persistent threats." She also warned South Korea to be prepared for "everything" if it made even a "mistake." On Wednesday evening, after visiting border fortification sites with Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon, she issued her first statement, saying North Korean tactical units were taking up new positions and that loudspeakers aimed at South Korea's "psychological broadcasting" would be put into operation along the whole border by the end of this month.
The exchange was triggered by accusations from a special adviser on defence policy appointed by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who blamed North Korea for planting mines in the Demilitarised Zone and told Pyongyang not to escalate tensions with loudspeaker broadcasts. South Korea says landmine explosions in the DMZ last month wounded its soldiers: Yonhap reported three soldiers injured, while Reuters, citing the South Korean account, said two soldiers were seriously wounded. North Korea denies responsibility, calling the accusation a fabricated farce.
North Korea has been fortifying the inter-Korean border since April 2024, installing barriers, laying mines and strengthening fences along the Military Demarcation Line, after its leader declared the two Koreas should be regarded as "hostile states." President Lee has made easing inter-Korean tensions a signature policy, and his administration halted South Korea's broadcasts and dismantled its fixed loudspeakers last year. Reuters said the North's threat to redeploy propaganda loudspeakers risks reversing those gains and pushing tensions along the frontier to their highest level since Lee took office.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · TECH SGT JACK BRADEN, U.S. Air Force · Public domain
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