Tensions between North Korea and South Korea are rising after Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, announced that anti-South Korea loudspeakers would be placed on standby along the entire border within days.
Kim issued the warning on Thursday, October 22, saying Pyongyang had also placed unspecified additional countermeasures on alert. She warned Seoul of “the most horrible and distressing situation” if it continued what North Korea describes as interference in its internal affairs.
The announcement followed Kim’s visit to border fortification sites on Wednesday evening alongside senior military officials. During the visit, she said North Korea intended to activate loudspeakers across the border by the end of October.
Kim also claimed that North Korean tactical units had moved into new positions and accused South Korean troops of conducting warning broadcasts and firing warning shots at several locations near the border.
South Korea defended the gunfire, describing it as a legitimate defensive response.
Kim warned that North Korean troops would “mercilessly eliminate” South Korean forces if warning shots caused harm to North Korean territory or personnel.
In response, South Korea’s military and Unification Ministry urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue to resolve the growing tensions. The military also said Kim’s remarks suggested that measures introduced with the United Nations Command to strengthen control in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) were having an impact.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said it would take “proportionate measures” if North Korea carried out its threats, although officials had not made a final decision on the response.
Loudspeaker Threat Puts Pressure on South Korea
The latest warning presents another challenge for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has been seeking to reduce hostility between the two countries since taking office in June last year.
North and South Korea have historically used loudspeakers near their shared border to broadcast propaganda into each other’s territory. South Korean broadcasts have included news and K-pop music, which have long angered Pyongyang and prompted retaliatory broadcasts from the North.
The two countries remain separated by the heavily fortified DMZ, established after the 1950–1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Since 2024, North Korea has been strengthening its side of the zone with mines, barriers and fencing as it pursues what it describes as a permanent border with South Korea.
South Korea has also accused the North of planting mines that caused an explosion last month, seriously injuring two South Korean soldiers. Pyongyang has denied responsibility, describing Seoul’s accusation as fabricated.
South Korea Plans to Raise Mine Blast With UN
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it would send a letter to the United Nations Security Council, maintaining that the explosion was caused by North Korean mines and constituted a violation of the Korean War armistice.
According to a ministry spokesperson, the letter would demand an apology from Pyongyang and call for dialogue to prevent further escalation.
Despite North Korea’s refusal to resume talks and its designation of South Korea as a hostile state, President Lee has continued to pursue diplomatic engagement and efforts to ease tensions.
His administration stopped South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts and dismantled fixed loudspeakers along the border last year as confidence-building measures. North Korea subsequently suspended its own broadcasts towards the South.
However, Kim’s latest remarks have raised concerns that the relative calm could be disrupted.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Seoul’s Kyungnam University, said the warning did not necessarily mean North Korea would immediately activate its loudspeakers.
Nevertheless, he said the developments presented Lee’s administration with an “enormous dilemma” as it attempts to maintain peaceful engagement while responding to increasingly aggressive military activity near the border.
With North Korea preparing its loudspeakers and both sides exchanging warnings, the situation has placed renewed pressure on efforts to prevent another escalation on the Korean Peninsula.
