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A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, at a railway station in Seoul on July 28, 2023. Jung Yeon-ie, AFP/File

A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, at a railway station in Seoul on July 28, 2023. Kim Jong Un oversaw a North Korean military parade featuring new drones and Pyongyang's nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, as his defence chief warned the United States that nuclear war was coming, state media reported on July 28. 
Jung Yeon-ie, AFP

Article (news)

Kim Jong Un

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171794583455420230728-nokor-parade-AFP-.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, at a railway station in Seoul on July 28, 2023. Jung Yeon-ie, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, at a railway station in Seoul on July 28, 2023. <em>Jung Yeon-ie, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>SEOUL -- South Korea resumed Sunday a loudspeaker propaganda campaign against the North as Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.</p><p>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 the escalating cycle could end in actual military skirmishes.</p><p>Seoul suspended this month 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.</p><p>The loudspeaker 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.</p><p>&quot;The South Korean military conducted a loudspeaker broadcast this afternoon,&quot; Seoul&#x27;s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that whether additional broadcasts follow &quot;depends entirely on North Korea&#x27;s actions.&quot;</p><p>The president&#x27;s office had earlier confirmed the move, describing it as &quot;corresponding measures&quot; for the more than 300 trash-filled balloons Pyongyang sent across the border in a fresh blitz that started on Saturday.</p><p>&quot;Although the measures we are taking may be difficult for the North Korean regime to endure, they will deliver messages of light and hope to the North Korean military and citizens,&quot; it said.</p><p>Late Sunday, Seoul&#x27;s military said the North was &quot;again floating (suspected) balloons carrying trash towards the South,&quot; advising the public to report any balloons to authorities and refrain from touching them.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/17/north-korea-test-fires-suspected-missiles-1622">READ: North Korea test-fires suspected missiles</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Low class&#x27; -</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3054998"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script></div><p>Officials in Gyeonggi province sent out a text alert to residents late Sunday, warning about the new balloons.</p><p>Seoul&#x27;s military has said analysis of the balloons that arrived Saturday &quot;shows there were no substances that were harmful to safety&quot; and that they contained plastic and waste paper.</p><p>&quot;North Korea is making another low-class provocation with trash balloons against our civilian areas,&quot; Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote in a Facebook post.</p><p>Activists in the South have sent dozens of balloons bearing K-pop, dollar bills and anti-Kim Jong Un propaganda northwards in recent weeks, infuriating the North which has retaliated in kind.</p><p>Pyongyang sent nearly a thousand balloons across the border in late May and early June before calling off its campaign. It restarted on Saturday in response to new launches last week by activists, against which Seoul&#x27;s government has almost no legal recourse.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/3/seoul-warns-north-korea-plotting-attacks-on-embassies-1709">READ: Seoul warns North Korea plotting attacks on embassies</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/27/south-korea-china-japan-vow-to-ramp-up-cooperation-in-rare-summit-1400">READ: South Korea, China, Japan vow to ramp up cooperation in rare summit</a></div><div><strong>- Low point in ties -</strong></div><div><strong><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SQhGXE_3nOA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" width="640"></iframe></strong></div><p>Seoul&#x27;s decision to resume the loudspeaker broadcasts could have serious implications, experts said, with previous propaganda tit-for-tats having had real-world consequences for inter-Korean relations.</p><p>&quot;There is a high possibility the resuming of speakers could lead to an armed conflict,&quot; Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Korean peninsula strategy at Sejong Institute, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;With the resuming of the speakers, North Korea will not stay put. It is likely that North Korea will resume firing in the West Sea or fire at the balloons if the South sends any again,&quot; Cheong said.</p><p>&quot;North Korea has been jamming GPS signals for several days last week and it is likely for this kind of provocation to appear in a much stronger form in the West Sea as well.&quot;</p><p>In 2018, during a period of improved inter-Korean relations, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to &quot;completely cease all hostile acts&quot;, including stopping the leaflets.</p><p>The South Korean parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalizing the act of sending leaflets to the North, but the activists did not stop and the law was struck down by the Constitutional Court last year as an undue limitation on free speech.</p><p>The opposition Democratic Party criticized the government for not doing more to stop the activists&#x27; balloons, with a spokesperson at a Sunday briefing saying they were using &quot;&#x27;freedom of expression&#x27; as an excuse to jeopardize the safety of our people&quot;.</p><p>They also said the resumption of loudspeaker campaigns was not wise, adding that &quot;the government&#x27;s move poses a risk of escalating into a regional war&quot;.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>South Korea resumed Sunday a loudspeaker propaganda campaign against the North as Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.</p>

South Korea resumed Sunday a loudspeaker propaganda campaign against the North as Pyongyang sent a fresh barrage of trash-filled balloons across the border.

Seoul resumes loudspeaker propaganda against North

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Seoul resumes loudspeaker propaganda against North

Agence France-Presse,

Hieun Shin

Published Jun 09, 2024 11:39 PM PHT

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South Korea

North Korea

loudspeaker propaganda campaign

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