SEOUL, October 22 (Aalimi Nation) – North Korea said on Wednesday that it will set up loudspeakers along its entire border with South Korea, a move that Seoul answered by urging Pyongyang to return to dialogue and stop escalating tensions.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, announced the plan after visiting border fortifications with senior military officials. She said new response measures were on standby across the whole frontier and that the loudspeakers would be ready within days.
North Korea border loudspeakers: what was said
Kim Yo Jong warned Seoul of "the most horrible and distressing situation" if it continues what Pyongyang describes as interference in its internal affairs. She said North Korean tactical units have taken up new positions, and tied the announcement to fortification work along the border, arguing that once the line is reinforced the risk of military clashes would fall markedly.
She also accused South Korean troops of carrying out warning broadcasts and firing warning shots at several locations. South Korea has described the shots as "legitimate and defensive measures". Neither side's account could be independently verified.
Seoul's response
South Korea's military and its Ministry of Unification urged the North to stop escalating and return to talks. The ministry called for differences over the Military Demarcation Line to be resolved and for a communication system to manage the line peacefully. It said any South Korean countermeasures would be decided through consultations among the relevant government agencies.
The ministry recalled that both Koreas were running loudspeakers barely a year ago and that residents on both sides of the border had suffered hardship as a result. "The mistakes of the past should not be repeated," it said.
Background to the border dispute
The announcement comes as relations between the two Koreas are at what is described as their lowest point since President Lee Jae Myung took office in June 2025. Lee's government has pursued a policy of easing tensions. In 2025, South Korea stopped its own propaganda broadcasts and dismantled about 20 fixed loudspeaker systems along the border. North Korea then suspended its own broadcasts toward the South.
Since 2024, North Korea has reinforced its side of the Demilitarized Zone with mines, barriers and fencing, in what it calls an effort to establish a permanent border. South Korea says North Korean mines caused an explosion last month that seriously wounded two of its soldiers. Pyongyang denies responsibility and has called the allegation a South Korean fabrication.
Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it would send a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council over the incident. Seoul calls the blast a violation of the Korean War armistice and intends to demand an apology.
The coming days will show whether the loudspeakers are installed as announced and how Seoul responds. South Korean officials have said they are weighing a proportionate response but have not said what form it might take. Any resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts would end a pause that has held since mid-2025.
