North Korea will activate anti-South propaganda loudspeakers along its entire border by the end of October. The deployment escalates frontier tensions following recent border fortification efforts and mutual warnings between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader, described the deployment as a legitimate response to South Korean security measures. North Korean tactical units are establishing new positions along the heavily fortified frontier, according to statements reported by Reuters on Wednesday, October 21.
The planned loudspeaker activation threatens to undo one of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s achievements. His administration had halted broadcasts and dismantled fixed loudspeakers along the frontier, easing psychological warfare operations.
Kim Inspects Border as New Firepower Positions Open
Kim Yo Jong inspected multiple locations along the border early Wednesday, accompanied by North Korean Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon. State media reported that the frontier is heavily blocked and fortified as new firepower units take up firing positions.
Our tactical hunting teams are taking new positions, and within October, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare against the ROK will be in operation along the whole border.
Kim Yo Jong, official statement via Reuters
Pyongyang rejected allegations from Seoul regarding recent border crossings and mine explosions. South Korea stated that North Korean landmines caused a border blast last month that seriously wounded two soldiers, prompting calls to suspend ongoing fortification work.
Pak Rejects Border Violations as Seoul Pledges Retaliation
Marshal Pak Jong Chon dismissed South Korea’s accusations regarding border violations as an absurd assertion
intended to shift blame. He maintained that the North Korean army understands the exact boundaries of its territory better than any others
and urged troops to transform the frontier into an impregnable fortress
.
Tensions across the Demilitarized Zone have escalated steadily since Pyongyang began reinforcing its border defenses in April 2024. Seoul reports that North Korea has deployed up to 7,000 workers to the frontier this year, recording roughly 50 crossings over the Military Demarcation Line.
If the enemy’s provocative warning fire goes beyond its stated purpose and results in actual harm to the safety of our territory or our soldiers, our border troops will mercilessly eliminate the armed thugs who have lost their reason.
Kim Yo Jong, official statement via Reuters
If the enemy’s provocative warning fire goes beyond its stated purpose, border troops will act. It will result in actual harm to the safety of territory or soldiers.
The exchange follows a pledge from Seoul to punish any further provocations from Pyongyang. North Korean psychological warfare units are scheduled to complete their border-wide deployment before the end of October.
Authorities on both sides remain on high alert along the armistice line established in 1953, but whether Seoul will resume its own broadcasts in response has not been stated.
