South Korea has been playing K-pop songs in loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at its northern neighbour along the border – after it was targeted with balloons carrying rubbish.
The speakers also carried updates on BTS member Jin’s torch-bearing ahead of the Paris Olympics – and the recent defection of a senior North Korean diplomat.
It comes as the public has been warned to be on the lookout for falling objects and debris and to report any balloon sightings to the authorities – actions by North Korea which officials said were “escalating” tensions.
South Korea said the balloons were seen flying north of the capital of Seoul after crossing the border.
It comes two days after the country restarted blaring anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the border for the first time in about 40 days in retaliation for its neighbour’s repeated balloon campaigns.
“The North Korean military’s tension-escalating acts can result in causing critical consequences for it,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs Of Staff said in a statement.
“The responsibility for this situation is entirely on North Korea’s government.”
It added the South Korean military was responding by expanding loudspeaker broadcasts at all major sections of the 154-mile border.
Experts say South Korean propaganda broadcasts can demoralise frontline North Korean troops and residents, posing a blow to the North’s efforts to limit access to outside news for its 26 million people.
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South Korean officials have previously said broadcasts from their loudspeakers can travel around six miles during the day and 15 miles at night.
The North’s latest balloon offensive is the ninth of its kind since late May.
It has floated more than 2,000 balloons to drop waste paper, scraps of cloth, cigarette butts, waste batteries and even manure on South Korea, though they have so far caused no major damage.
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North Korea has said the initial balloons were launched in response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets to the North via their own balloons – but has not made any official comment on the latest loudspeaker broadcasts.
In a statement last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, threatened new measures against South Korean civilian leafleting.
The comments raised concerns North Korea could stage physical provocations, rather than balloon launches.
