Loudspeaker Broadcasts Toward North Korea to Get Stronger [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

North Strengthens Broadcast Time, Target, and Content Significantly
in Response to Continuous Trash Balloon Provocations

The military is expected to increase the intensity of psychological warfare using loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea. This means they plan to strengthen the target audience, timing, and content of the broadcasts as North Korea continues to send trash balloons consecutively.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to military officials on the 25th, the military has been conducting loudspeaker broadcasts targeting the original launch areas of the balloons. However, going forward, broadcasts will be directed at North Korean soldiers and residents near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Although North Korea broadcasts propaganda to prevent its soldiers and residents from hearing South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts, it is believed that the broadcasts are not completely inaudible to them.

They are also considering broadcasting 24 hours a day. Until now, broadcasts were conducted from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Broadcasting throughout the night would increase the effectiveness. The fixed and mobile loudspeakers possessed by our military have high-power speakers. These speakers can transmit sound up to about 20 km forward during the daytime. However, from evening onwards, the listening range extends up to 30 km.

The content of the broadcasts can also provoke North Korea further. Until now, the broadcasts have focused on South Korea’s development and K-POP, but going forward, they plan to include not only news from inside North Korea but also information about human rights abuses and the importance of human rights. In fact, during the 2004 Ryongchon Station explosion in North Korea, the military broadcast in real-time that "a large explosion occurred at Ryongchon Station causing many casualties and property damage, and South Korea will provide generous support as an act of brotherly love." Later, letters from soldiers in North Korea’s frontline units to their families included details about the Ryongchon explosion, which reportedly caused a major uproar among North Korean troops.

A military official said, “The large electronic billboard with regime propaganda slogans and the steel tower used as the Agibong tree at Agibong Peace Ecological Park in Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province, have been dismantled,” adding, “We will further strengthen psychological warfare using loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea.”