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| ▲ This file photo shows loudspeakers being withdrawn at a western frontline unit in June 2004. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-loudspeakers
S. Korean military conducts loudspeaker broadcasts in response to N.K. balloon campaign
SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military on Sunday conducted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts near the border with North Korea in response to the North's recent launch of balloons carrying trash into the South.
The broadcasts took place sometime in the afternoon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, after the National Security Council approved the move against the North's latest launches of trash-carrying balloons since Saturday.
The JCS did not provide details of the operation, but a military official earlier said it would broadcast the "Voice of Freedom," a radio program run by the defense ministry's psychological warfare unit.
"Whether there will be additional broadcasts of our military's loudspeakers depends entirely on North Korea's actions," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters. "We strongly urge (the North) to immediately stop its despicable acts, such as the launches of waste balloons."
Since May 28, the North has launched the balloons toward the South, describing it as a "tit-for-tat" response to anti-Pyongyang leafleting by activists in South Korea.
It launched some 330 balloons late Saturday and early Sunday, but only around 80 of them landed in the country. It sent nearly 1,000 trash-carrying balloons into the South late last month and early last week.
For years, North Korean defectors in the South and conservative activists have sent leaflets to the North via balloons to help encourage North Koreans to eventually rise up against the Pyongyang regime.
North Korea has bristled at the propaganda campaign amid concern that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to its leader Kim Jong-un.
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