Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Wednesday that Pyongyang will resume loudspeaker broadcasts along the inter-Korean border this month.
Kim's remarks were the latest from Pyongyang to up the pressure on Seoul, which has sought to make conciliatory gestures toward Pyongyang in an attempt to deescalate tensions.
Kim, director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that propaganda loudspeakers directed toward South Korea will be fully operational along the entire border by the end of the month.
"Our tactical hunting teams are taking new positions, and this month, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare against (South Korea) will be in operation along the whole border," Kim said in the statement, carried in an English-language dispatch by the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim called the move a "just measure" and an "appropriate response," as Pyongyang continues its border fortification and tactical unit deployments.
She also claimed that South Korean military forces had engaged in provocations in at least two locations in the form of loudspeaker warnings and warning shots on Wednesday, adding that any additional gunfire would escalate border tensions to an unimaginable level.
Kim's remarks followed her visit Wednesday morning to heavily armed border sites with Pak Jong-chon, a marshal of the Korean People's Army.
Earlier in the week, Kim warned of the possible resumption of propaganda broadcasts, as she said South Korean actions had intensified following what she called Seoul's "fabricated mine explosion incident," apparently referring to two land mine blasts on Sept. 21 that injured three South Korean military personnel in the Demilitarized Zone.
According to an official of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, South Korea was aware of Kim's visit to the border area, but it has not yet responded to her claim of gunfire from the South.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
