S.Korea steps up propaganda broadcasts

SEOUL — South Korea will ramp up propaganda broadcasts to the North in response to Pyongyang sending more trash-carrying balloons across the border, Seoul's military said on Sunday.

The two Koreas have engaged in a tit-for-tat campaign, with the North sending nearly 2,000 trash-carrying balloons southwards since May, saying it is retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists.

In protest at a latest wave of North Korean balloons, the South Korean military said it was widening the scale of its frontline propoganda broadcasts.

"Effective from 13:00 [4:00 GMT] our military will conduct a full scale broadcasts along the borders as we have warned repeatedly," said a statement on Sunday from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"The North is launching another batch of rubbish-carrying balloons," an earlier statement said, noting they were flying towards the northern part of Gyeonggi.

"Please report them to the military or police and refrain from direct contact with the objects."

The latest batch of balloons comes three days after Seoul announced it had resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts directed at North Korea and warned that it would broaden their scope if the North persisted in sending the trash.

In declaring the start of the full-scale propaganda broadcasts, Seoul warned the North Korean army will "bear the brunt of decisive damage from its tension raising acts committed in the border area".

"We gravely warn that all responsibility lies squarely with the North Korean regime."

The North's balloons have disrupted more than 100 flights carrying 10,000 passengers, a South Korean lawmaker said earlier this month.

In response, Seoul has fully suspended a tension-reducing military agreement and announced in June that it was resuming propaganda broadcasts along the border.

In addition to anti-Kim leaflets sent from the South, isolated North Korea is extremely sensitive about its people gaining access to South Korean pop culture products, with a recent South Korean government report pointing to a 2022 case where a man was executed for possession of content from the South.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The propaganda broadcasts — a tactic which dates back to the Korean War — infuriate Pyongyang, which previously threatened artillery strikes against Seoul's loudspeaker units.

Prior to the latest propaganda broadcasts, Seoul recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.