North Korea to restart border loudspeakers against South

Kim Yo-jong said North Korea will put psychological warfare loudspeakers into operation along the whole border with South Korea within October, in a statement carried by state media after she inspected border fortifications on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Restarting the broadcasts reverses one of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's main de-escalation steps, after his government halted its own broadcasts and dismantled its fixed loudspeakers last year, and it lands while North Korean crews are fortifying the frontier and Seoul says mines laid in that work wounded two of its soldiers last month.

Data as of Reuters report of October 21, 2026, read in full in syndication, and Korea JoongAng Daily report of October 21, 2026, read in full, both reporting Kim Yo-jong's statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, October 21, 2026; Yonhap breaking flash of October 21, 2026, in Korean, headline only, reporting the follow-on statement. Kim's claims about South Korean warning broadcasts and warning shots are Pyongyang's account and are not independently corroborated. Developing item.

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that North Korean tactical units are taking up new positions and that loudspeakers for psychological warfare against South Korea will be in operation along the whole border within October, calling the move the most legitimate measure and an appropriate response. She said she had visited border positions on Wednesday with Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon, accused South Korean forces of loudspeaker warning broadcasts and warning shots at at least two locations that day, and warned that if South Korean warning fire harms North Korean territory or soldiers, border troops will show no mercy.

A Yonhap breaking flash later on Wednesday reported a follow-on statement in which Kim said new countermeasure means are on standby for their mission along the whole border line and the loudspeakers too will be on standby within a few days.

North Korea to restart border loudspeakers against South

Sources