South Korea has resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts to North Korea

(CNN) — The South Korean military sent a propaganda message through loudspeakers towards North Korea on Sunday afternoon (local time), Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The emissions were the first in six years since the equipment was dismantled in 2018 after a summit between the two Koreas and occurred in response to North Korea sending hundreds of balloons filled with debris over its border.

North Korea has insisted that it takes “full responsibility” for the current situation and that it must “immediately stop petty actions like sending up garbage balloons.”

He warned that whether the military would broadcast another message over loudspeakers would “entirely depend on North Korea’s actions.”

On May 1, 2018, a worker removes loudspeakers installed for propaganda broadcasts near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in Baju. (Credit: KIM HONG-JI/AFP/Getty Images)

The JCS said the broadcasts inform North Korean soldiers and residents of the “reality of North Korea”, South Korea’s development and Korean culture, and “can carry out its mission immediately within hours if required”.

North Korea sends another wave of junk balloons to South Korea

North Korea has again sent hundreds of balloons filled with garbage to South Korea, the JCS said, days after South Korean activists sent balloons containing K-pop and K-drama on USB sticks to their northern neighbors.

The JCS said North Korea had launched about 330 balloons carrying garbage bags since Saturday night, 80 of which landed in South Korean territory.

Analysis of the balloons showed that their contents included waste paper and plastic and did not contain any safety hazards, South Korea’s JCS said in a statement on Sunday.

According to CNN’s tally, about 1,060 balloons from North Korea have reached the South Korean border since May 28.

Last week, Pyongyang said it sent a total of 3,500 balloons containing 15 tons of debris to its neighbors, state media KCNA reported, citing North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il.

North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il said the balloons were “strictly a response” to South Korea’s years-long practice of sending balloons carrying anti-North Korean leaflets in the opposite direction.

Kim said last week that North Korea would “temporarily stop littering the border,” but South Korean activists on Thursday condemned the balloon delivery of hundreds of thousands of leaflets and 5,000 USB flash drives with K-pop to its northern neighbor. and K-dramas.

South Korea’s JCS warned on Saturday night that North Korea was raising its suspected debris balloons and that the balloons could be headed south due to wind direction. He advised the public to be careful of falling objects, avoid contact with fallen balloons and report any balloons found to the nearest military base or the police.