North Korea Removes Border Loudspeakers Amid Cross-Border Propaganda Tensions

North Korea Removes Border Loudspeakers Amid Cross-Border Propaganda Tensions

North Korea has begun dismantling some of its border loudspeakers in response to South Korea removing its own devices earlier this week, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The action marks a reciprocal step following the suspension of Seoul’s cross-border propaganda broadcasts under the new South Korean president, Lee Jae-myung, who aims to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

This move follows a resumption of loudspeaker operations by South Korea in 2024 after North Korea’s balloon campaign of trash-filled balloons across the border in retaliation for South Korean activists launching leaflet campaigns into the North. The broadcasts, capable of traveling more than 20 kilometers, were framed by Seoul as a way to deliver ‘messages of light and hope’ to the North’s people and military.

Both Koreas had previously dismantled all loudspeakers under the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, but the agreement unraveled. The South had resumed loudspeaker operations in mid-2024 in response to Pyongyang sending thousands of trash-filled balloons across the border. The new South Korean president has promised to end both the propaganda broadcasts and the leaflet campaigns. His predecessor, Yoon, was impeached in December and indicted on insurrection charges after briefly imposing martial law, citing a looming ‘rebellion’ by pro-Pyongyang forces in the opposition.

Seoul and its key ally, Washington, have technically remained at war with Pyongyang since 1953. North Korea has repeatedly denounced joint military drills between South Korea and the United States over the past years, calling them rehearsals for an attack. This ongoing tension highlights the complex and delicate nature of inter-Korean relations, with both sides using propaganda as a tool to exert influence and assert their stance.