The South Korean military reported that North Korea launched trash-carrying balloons toward its country on Sunday and threatened to retaliate with “full-scale” loudspeaker broadcasts.
The South Korean military warned that the North Korean leadership would bear full responsibility for any catastrophic consequences that may result from its activities in inflaming tensions close to the highly fortified border.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South declared, “The military will begin loudspeaker broadcasts at 1 p.m. today, as we have repeatedly warned, on all fronts and in full force,” denouncing as vile and despicable the North’s balloon launch.
For years, South Korean activists and defectors have been infuriating Pyongyang by sending their own balloons filled with propaganda materials and other objects into North Korea.
The South Korean military decided earlier this week to carry out its continuous loudspeaker broadcast campaign against North Korea in retaliation for what it described as Pyongyang’s vile balloon launch that was intended to transport trash across the border.
Tension between the two Koreas has increased as a result of North Korea’s hundreds of balloons floating in mid-May with bags of trash attached to them.
Propaganda, international news, and K-pop music are all featured prominently in South Korean broadcasts, which activists and military officials view as a potent kind of psychological warfare.