Will Loudspeaker Broadcasts Toward North Korea Resume After 6 Years? [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

The Ministry of National Defense plans to resume loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea if the Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Military Agreement are nullified. This will be the first time in six years since April 2018. The military has already introduced new loudspeakers, including 16 mobile loudspeakers and 24 fixed loudspeaker sets, at a cost of approximately 16 billion KRW. The audible range of the new loudspeakers is 8 to 10 km for mobile units and 12 to 15 km for fixed units. During the evening hours, when sound propagates well, broadcasts can be heard up to 30 km away. This performance is sufficient for broadcasts to reach from the Military Demarcation Line to the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Loudspeakers have historically been a common means of retaliation against North Korea. They were suspended in 2004 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration through a South-North military agreement but were resumed 11 years later following the landmine provocation in 2015. Subsequently, broadcasts continued as a response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in 2016 and other provocations.

North Korea’s backlash is also anticipated. North Korea is sensitive to loudspeakers as they can cause internal unrest among its residents. Loudspeaker broadcasts mainly consist of popular K-pop and other Korean Wave content or candid information about the Kim Jong-un regime’s realities, aimed at North Korean residents. A North Korean soldier who defected across the Military Demarcation Line in 2017 stated that listening to the loudspeaker broadcasts influenced his decision to defect. In 2015, North Korea even targeted the loudspeakers in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, with anti-aircraft guns and direct fire weapons.

If the entire September 19 Military Agreement is invalidated, not only the loudspeakers but also the ‘shackles’ that have limited South Korea’s deterrence against North Korea will be lifted. The highest level of pressure on North Korea will commence.

Our military is also expected to fully resume live-fire and real-movement exercises near the Military Demarcation Line. These include firing ranges within 5 km of the MDL, such as the Story Range (Paju, Gyeonggi Province), Cheonmiri Range (Yanggu County, Gangwon Province), Jeokgeori Range (Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province), Chilseong Range (Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province), and Songjiho Range (Goseong County, Gangwon Province). At the Songjiho Range on the East Coast, live-fire training with the next-generation 230mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) Cheonmu, which has a maximum range of 80 km, is also possible. If live-fire training is conducted in the buffer zone, there are concerns that North Korea may use this as a pretext to carry out provocations by land, sea, and air.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.