Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official, stated Sunday that Pyongyang may resume propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and deploy more tactical weapons along the border with South Korea. The statement, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), cited what it described as provocative military actions by Seoul.
In the statement, Kim, who is the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a deputy department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, alleged that South Korean forces have repeatedly issued warning broadcasts and fired warning shots near the border since August. She characterized the alleged incidents as a “very dangerous military muscle-flexing.”
“I would like to make it clear once again that the safety catch of the Korean People’s Army’s trigger is already unlocked,” the KCNA statement quoted Kim as saying. She added that any minor incident could lead to a military conflict.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has previously addressed border incidents, stating that its military takes standard operational steps, including issuing warnings and firing warning shots, when North Korean soldiers cross the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that runs through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
The potential resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts would mark a reversal of a key agreement from the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, an inter-Korean summit agreement during which both nations agreed to cease all hostile acts against each other. As part of that agreement, both sides dismantled propaganda loudspeakers that had for years broadcasted messages, news, and music across the border.
This development follows a period of increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In November, North Korea launched a military reconnaissance satellite, an action condemned by South Korea, the United States, and Japan. In response, Seoul partially suspended the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), a pact designed to reduce military tensions, and resumed aerial surveillance activities near the border.
Pyongyang subsequently announced it was no longer bound by the CMA and would deploy more powerful armed forces and new types of military hardware along the border region. Since that announcement, South Korea’s military has reported that North Korean soldiers have been observed restoring guard posts and bringing heavy weaponry back into the DMZ.
