Agency calls it a mistaken report by one Daeseong-dong resident; military says no frontline units heard broadcast

A North Korean loudspeaker directed at the South is seen at a guard post along the Imjin River in the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
A North Korean loudspeaker directed at the South is seen at a guard post along the Imjin River in the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Thursday that media reports claiming North Korea had conducted a test broadcast from its loudspeakers directed at the South were false, saying the incident stemmed from a mistaken report by a resident of Daeseong-dong village inside the Demilitarized Zone.

Yoo Young-ha, a People Power Party lawmaker who leads the party's side on the National Assembly's intelligence committee, told reporters at an afternoon briefing following the NIS national audit that the NIS director had flatly denied the reports when asked by PPP lawmaker Han Ki-ho. "The NIS director said a resident of Daeseong-dong filed a report, but that it was determined to be a mistaken report," Yoo said.

Yun Geon-yeong, the Democratic Party of Korea's negotiator on the committee, confirmed the same account. "Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won asked about the media reports on the North Korean loudspeakers, and the NIS said the coverage was inaccurate," Yun said. "Some reports said North Korea had used its loudspeakers directed at the South, and when lawmakers asked whether that was true, the NIS said it was not — that's all there is to it," Yun added.

Asked whether the NIS had briefed lawmakers on how the loudspeakers came to be installed or on the possibility of their reactivation, Yoo said that was a matter for the Defense Ministry and that no separate briefing had been given.

Earlier Thursday, several media outlets had cited a Daeseong-dong resident as saying that around 6:30 a.m., singing was briefly audible, followed by faint sounds described as ghostly, and reported that North Korea had conducted a test broadcast. The military, however, had already said at the time that no frontline units had reported hearing any North Korean loudspeaker broadcast.

North Korea has repeatedly signaled in recent weeks that it intends to resume loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South. Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party's General Affairs Department, said Oct. 19 that Pyongyang was reviewing a resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts in response to South Korean military warning broadcasts and warning shots near the MDL. Two days later, Kim said loudspeakers for psychological operations against South Korea "will be placed in an operational state along the entire border line within October."

If the loudspeakers are actually reactivated, it would be the first time since the two Koreas mutually halted such broadcasts in June last year — a gap of about 16 months. Anxiety has been growing among residents in border areas including Paju, Gimpo and Ganghwa.

The intelligence agency's conclusion that the report was a false alarm has cleared up the immediate confusion, but with North Korea's self-imposed deadline set for the end of this month, tensions along the border are expected to persist for now.


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