North Korea to resume propaganda broadcasts, South Korea urges dialogue

North Korea plans to resume propaganda broadcasts along the border with South Korea, amid rising tensions between the two countries.

The full report

North Korea has announced plans to resume broadcasting anti-South Korea propaganda along the armed border between the two countries, according to Al Jazeera English. The move comes as Seoul urges Pyongyang to discuss easing tensions. Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Wednesday that North Korea will place loudspeakers along the entire border, following a visit with top military officials to fortifications along the contested frontier.

Kim warned Seoul of “the most horrible and distressing situation” if South Korea continued what Pyongyang calls interference in the North’s internal affairs. She added in a follow-up statement on Thursday that North Korea would place “new counter means” on alert along the border, without elaborating, and have its loudspeakers on “standby” within days. A landmine blast last month that wounded three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two countries has ratcheted up tensions.

Seoul accused North Korean troops of deliberately laying mines in the border zone as part of the North’s fortification work. Kim had denied the allegation, calling the incident a South Korean fabrication. She said North Korean tactical units had taken up new positions, and accused South Korean troops of conducting warning broadcasts and firing warning shots at multiple locations near the border.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence urged North Korea on Thursday to discuss measures to ease tension at the border and prevent any accidental military clash, its spokesperson said. Pyongyang had cut off a military hotline with the South after declaring it would no longer seek dialogue or unification with what it called its “foe”.

The two Koreas are separated by the DMZ, established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice. North Korea has been reinforcing its side of the DMZ with mines, barriers and fencing since 2024 as it seeks to establish what it calls a permanent border with South Korea.