South Korea resumes loudspeaker broadcasts, North vows 'response'

Tensions ratcheted up as two Koreas engage in tit-for-tat campaigns

- 

South Korea on June 9 resumed a loudspeaker propaganda campaign against the North, as Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border and vowed a “new response”.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, and in recent weeks, the two have engaged in a tit-for-tat campaign of balloon launches, with analysts warning that the escalating cycle could end in actual military skirmishes.

Seoul in June suspended a 2018 military deal aimed at reducing tensions on the peninsula after Pyongyang sent hundreds of balloons carrying bags of garbage, including cigarette butts and plastic waste, paving the way for the resumption of the loudspeaker broadcasts.

The broadcasts, a tactic which dates back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, infuriate Pyongyang, which previously threatened artillery strikes against the loudspeaker units unless they were switched off.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later said that Seoul could expect a “new response” and warned of a “very dangerous situation”, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the North’s state-run KCNA.

Ms Kim Yo Jong, one of the regime’s key spokespeople, said that the North’s latest balloon campaign had been planned to end on June 9, but with the resumption of the loudspeaker broadcasts, “the situation has changed”.