North Korea launched balloons carrying garbage into South Korea on Sunday, with the South’s military announcing it would respond with a “full-scale” loudspeaker broadcast.
South Korea’s military said North Korea’s moves to escalate tensions near the heavily armed border could have deadly consequences, adding that the North Korean government would be solely responsible.
“As we have warned many times, the army will broadcast through loudspeakers on all fronts from 1 pm today,” the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, calling the North’s balloon release senseless and shameful.
Activists and defectors in South Korea have for years sent balloons containing propaganda leaflets and other items into North Korea, angering Pyongyang.
Earlier this week, South Korea’s military decided to resume its 24-hour loudspeaker broadcast campaign targeting North Korea in response to what it called the despicable launch of balloons by Pyongyang carrying trash across the border.
Since May, North Korea has floated thousands of balloons with trash bags attached to them, a new source of tension between the two Koreas.
Bursting with propaganda, world news, and K-pop music, the South Korean broadcast is seen by military officials and activists as an effective form of psychological warfare.