North Korea plans to place border loudspeakers on standby within days, Kim Yo Jong said Oct. 22, raising the prospect of renewed broadcasts as tensions continue over South Korean warning fire.
Kim, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said unspecified new countermeasures would also be placed on alert along the southern border, according to the Korean Central News Agency. She warned Seoul of a “most horrible and distressing situation” if it continued what Pyongyang describes as interference.
Her announcement followed an Oct. 21 pledge to put the speakers into operation by October’s end. The earlier statement set an operating target; the new one says the speakers will be on standby within days but gives no specific date.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry describes its warning broadcasts and shots as legitimate defensive measures intended to prevent North Korean troops from crossing the Military Demarcation Line, Yonhap reported. Pyongyang calls Seoul’s activity provocative and says it interferes with North Korea’s border work. A ministry spokesperson told the Associated Press that Seoul would respond proportionately if the North acted on its threat, but did not explain what steps might follow.
The dispute follows a Sept. 21 mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone. Yonhap reported that three South Korean soldiers were injured, two seriously. Seoul blamed North Korea, while Pyongyang denied involvement.
Reuters reported that President Lee Jae Myung’s administration ended South Korea’s border broadcasts and removed fixed speakers in 2025; North Korea later stopped its own broadcasts. In 2015, a mine blast that injured two South Korean soldiers was followed by Seoul resuming its border broadcasts. The Associated Press reported that the crisis brought the two Koreas close to armed conflict.
Reuters quoted Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, saying Kim’s statement did not establish whether North Korea would restart broadcasts. The stated timeline is standby within days and operation within October; Kim gave no exact start date.
