South Korea plans to double the number of anti-North Korean loudspeaker stations along the inter-Korean border in retaliation for the communist country’s recent series of ballistic missile provocations, military officials said Wednesday.
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The plan is to nearly double the number of stationary and mobile broadcast stations at the inter-Korean border within this year, and boost the reach of their powerful loudspeakers to more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) – so that Seoul will have 21 fixed points of broadcast and 12 moveable systems at its disposal.
“We will make more efforts to erode the morale of the North’s troops at the frontline and deliver information [about the outside world] to civilians there”, the official said.
Since the North’s widely-condemned nuclear test in January, the South has blasted a mix of news, propaganda messages and Korean pop music across the border using giant banks of about 17 loudspeakers.
Through the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, which was promoted from a Workers’ Party organ to a national office, Kim also issued messages to South Korea and the United States. Seoul has said it does not believe that Pyongyang would engage in a “flooding attack”, but monitors water levels at the Hwanggang Dam closely.No major injuries or damages have been reported from Wednesday’s discharge, but South Korea has evacuated residents who live along the Imjin river.
South Korea has not detected any signs North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is preparing a visit to China, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, commenting on what would be his first foreign trip since taking power. Seoul says the mines were planted by North Korea, a claim Pyongyang has denied.
The South Korean official also told Yonhap that the move is aimed at punishing the North for launching missiles.
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But the broadcasts came to a halt two weeks later after two Koreas reached an agreement to defuse growing military tension and Pyongyang expressed regret over the mine explosion.
