Citing North Korea’s claims of a hydrogen bomb test earlier this week, South Korea has announced it will resume the use of large loudspeakers to broadcast a stream of propaganda into Northern territory. The expectation is they will start Friday, which is Kim Jong Un’s birthday.
It’s sort of a radio broadcast, with weather updates and pop music interspersed between propaganda messages condemning the North Korean government. North Korea usually responds with broadcasts of their own into the south.
North Korea generally speaking considers the loudspeakers an act of war, though since the two countries are still at war this isn’t considered a big sticking point for the south. In the past they’ve taken the occasional shot at loudspeakers, trying to destroy them.
Tensions between North and South Korea normally rise early in the year, as now, and taper off around planting season, as the North Korean military is redeployed to help plant crops to try to stave off their regular food shortages.
