On Sunday, South Korea once again began broadcasting propaganda messages against North Korea through loudspeakers placed on the border between the two countries, something that had not happened since at least 2018. The decision was taken after South Korea had in recent weeks received hundreds of trash-filled balloons sent from North Korea: The North Korean government claims the balloons are a response to propaganda leaflets critical of the regime sent by South Korean activists across the border, a practice the South Korean government banned in late 2020 .
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North Korea did not immediately comment on the reactivation of the speakers, but has previously said it views these broadcasts as acts of war and has threatened to blow up the sound systems. In the past, international news, information about South Korea’s democratic and capitalist society and K-pop songs had been broadcast over the loudspeakers. According to the South Korean military, the sound can be heard more than 20 kilometers from the border at night.
The transmission of these messages was particularly problematic in August 2015, when South Korea broadcast propaganda messages after North Korean landmines injured two of its soldiers. After a few weeks, the North Korean army struck South Korean territory from its border and deployed some troops, threatening to attack South Korea by land if its government did not stop broadcasting messages through loudspeakers. South Korea responded to the attack, but the crisis was later resolved diplomatically. In 2018, South Korea pledged to stop broadcasting propaganda messages, something it has not done since.
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