South Korea has continued its loudspeaker broadcasts against the North for a third day, with North Korea showing little sign of planning a provocative reaction, the South’s military said Sunday.
South Korea restarted the broadcasts containing anti-North Korea messages Friday, two days after Pyongyang claimed to have succeeded in testing a hydrogen bomb.
South Korea had previously blared criticisms of the North Korean regime — in addition to radio soap operas and K-pop music
after a land mine planted by the North maimed two South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone in August.
The broadcasts were stopped later that month after the two sides agreed to diffuse military tensions and resume reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
“The broadcasts are continuing at more than 10 places on the front lines,” a South Korean military official said. “So far, North Korea hasn’t shown any signs of retaliation.”
North Korea has stationed more troops along the inter-Korean border to bolster its monitoring against the South, the official said.
It has also started its own loudspeaker broadcasts that change directions sporadically.
“We’re able to hear those broadcasts intermittently, but the noise level is too high,” the military official said. “They seem to be trying to water down our broadcasts or wage their own psychological warfare, but the audio output is too low.”
South Korea says it has strengthened its own monitoring of the North along the border.
North Korea had initially remained silent about the South Korean broadcasts last year too. On Aug. 20, however, it fired shells at the South Korean side of the DMZ, which resulted in a brief exchange of fire between the two sides. (Yonhap)
