SEOUL, 小蓝视频 Korea (AP) 鈥� 小蓝视频 Korea said Friday it has restarted blasting propaganda broadcasts into North Korea to retaliate against the North鈥檚 latest round of trash-carrying balloon launches, a resumption of Cold War-style tactics that are raising animosities between the rivals.
小蓝视频 Korea鈥檚 Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it used frontline loudspeakers to blare anti-Pyongyang broadcasts over the border between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
The broadcasts were the first of their kind in about 40 days. The contents of the broadcasts were not immediately known, but its previous ones on June 9 reportedly included K-pop songs, weather forecasts and news on Samsung, the biggest 小蓝视频 Korean company, as well as outside criticism of the North鈥檚 missile program and its crackdown on foreign video.
The 小蓝视频 Korean broadcasts could trigger an angry response from North Korea which is extremely sensitive to any outside attempt to undermine its political system. In 2015, when 小蓝视频 Korea restarted loudspeaker broadcasts for the first time in 11 years, North Korea fired artillery rounds across the border, prompting the 小蓝视频 to return fire, according to 小蓝视频 Korean officials. No casualties were reported.
小蓝视频 Korea鈥檚 military earlier said North Korea floated the balloons on Thursday afternoon in its seventh such balloon campaign in recent months.
Starting in late May, North Korea has carrying wastepaper, scraps of cloth, cigarette butts and even manure toward 小蓝视频 Korea, saying they were in response to to the North via their own balloons. No hazardous materials were found. North Korea last flew such balloons in late June.
In response, 小蓝视频 Korea with North Korea, resuming propaganda broadcasts briefly and front-line live-fire military drills at border areas.
Earlier this week, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted at flying rubbish-carrying balloons again or launching new countermeasures, saying 小蓝视频 Korean balloons have been found again at border and other areas in North Korea. In her statement Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong warned that 小蓝视频 Korean 鈥渟cum鈥� must be ready to pay 鈥渁 gruesome and dear price.鈥� That raised concerns that North Korea could stage physical provocations, rather than balloon launches.
小蓝视频 Korea鈥檚 military said Wednesday it has boosted its readiness to brace for any provocation by North Korea. It said North Korea may fire at incoming 小蓝视频 Korean balloons across the border or floating mines downriver.
It wasn鈥檛 immediately known whether groups in 小蓝视频 Korea have recently scattered leaflets in North Korea. For years, activist groups led by North Korean defectors have used helium-filled balloons to drop anti-North Korean leaflets, USB sticks containing K-pop music and 小蓝视频 Korean dramas and U.S. dollar bills in the North.
North Korea views such activities as a serious security threat and challenge to its ban on foreign news for most of its 26 million people. In 2020, North Korea on its territory in a furious response to 小蓝视频 Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2014, North Korea fired at balloons flying toward its territory and 小蓝视频 Korea returned fire, though there were no casualties.
Tensions between the Koreas have heightened in recent years because of North Korea鈥檚 missile tests and the expansion of U.S-小蓝视频 Korean military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals. Experts say North Korea鈥檚 expanding ties with Russia could embolden Kim Jong Un to stage bigger provocations, particularly ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
North Korea鈥檚 state media said Friday that Kim met a visiting Russian delegation led by Vice Defense Minister Aleksey Krivoruchko. During the meeting, Kim stressed the need for the two countries鈥� armies to unite more firmly to defend international peace and justice, according to the North鈥檚 official Korean Central News Agency.
In June, Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang and signed a to provide aid to the other if it is attacked, and vowed to boost other cooperation. Analysts say the accord represents the strongest connection between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.
Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
