Analysis
Kim Yo Jong: Psychological-warfare loudspeakers will operate along the whole border with South Korea this month, as Seoul calls for talks
Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, said North Korea will resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the entire border with South Korea this month. Seoul called for talks to reduce tension and avoid accidental clashes.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, announced that Pyongyang will restore loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border with South Korea this month. “Our regular pursuit units are taking up new positions and this month the psychological-warfare loudspeakers will operate along the whole border,” she said in a statement on Wednesday, October 21, carried by the Korea Herald from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim, director of the Workers’ Party General Affairs Department, called the measure “fair” and an “appropriate response”. The statement followed her visit on Wednesday morning to heavily fortified border positions with Marshal Pak Jong Chon. She claimed South Korean forces carried out provocations at at least two points, with warning broadcasts and warning shots, and warned that new fire would raise tension to an “unimaginable level”. These are North Korean claims.
In a new statement on Thursday, reported by Al Jazeera, Kim said North Korea will put “new means of response” on alert at the border without saying which, and that the loudspeakers will be ready within days. She warned Seoul of “the most dreadful and painful situation” if it continues what Pyongyang calls interference in its internal affairs.
Seoul replied that the warning shots were “legitimate and defensive measures”. South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence on Thursday called on the North to hold talks to reduce tension on the border and avoid any accidental military clash.
Tension rose after a landmine explosion on September 21 in the Demilitarised Zone injured three South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused the North Korean army of deliberately laying mines, while Kim called the incident “staged”. Since 2024 Pyongyang has been reinforcing its side with mines, barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles, creating what it calls a permanent border. In recent days it also tested strategic cruise missiles, and Seoul has warned of “decisive punishment” for any new provocation.