North Korea plans border propaganda broadcasts as tensions rise

North Korea plans to restart propaganda broadcasts along its border with South Korea, Kim Jong Un’s sister said, escalating a confrontation over border fortifications and land mine blasts that injured three South Korean soldiers.

Kim Yo Jong said Wednesday that loudspeakers used for psychological warfare would operate along the entire border within October. In a follow-up statement Thursday, she said they would be on “standby” within days and that unspecified “new counter means” would be placed on alert. South Korea, meanwhile, urged talks to reduce tensions and prevent an accidental military clash.

The announcement followed Kim’s visit with senior military officials to areas where North Korean troops are laying mines and installing barbed wire fences, anti-tank barriers and other fortifications. She called the work a “sacred and great undertaking” in support of her brother’s policy of permanently severing ties with South Korea.

The latest dispute centers on Sept. 21 blasts that wounded three South Korean soldiers near the heavily armed border. After an inspection with the U.S.-led United Nations Command, Seoul blamed mines planted by North Korea and called for an apology and the removal of remaining mines. North Korea denied responsibility; Kim called the allegation a South Korean fabrication.

South Korea’s military says North Korean soldiers have crossed the military demarcation line 50 times this year during the fortification work, prompting South Korean warning shots and broadcasts. Kim rejected the crossing claims as a “false pretext.” Marshal Pak Jong Chon, who accompanied her on the border visit, also denied the crossings, saying, “Our army knows where our borderline is better than any others,” according to North Korean state media.

Kim warned that if South Korean warning shots caused “actual harm to our territorial security and our service persons’ safety,” North Korean border guards “will show no mercy.” She also warned Seoul of “the most horrible and distressing situation” if it continued what Pyongyang calls interference in the North’s internal affairs. Pak threatened an “overwhelming response” to South Korean provocations.

Seoul says its warning shots are legitimate defensive measures intended to turn back troops it says crossed the line. South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Binna said Thursday that Seoul would need to take “proportionate measures” in response to North Korea’s border actions, but did not specify what those might be. The ministry also urged Pyongyang to discuss steps to ease tensions. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Jin Yong-Sung, called Kim’s threats “intolerable” and ordered a stern response to any North Korean provocation.

Both Koreas have used loudspeakers for propaganda during periods of tension. South Korea halted its broadcasts after President Lee Jae Myung took office last year in an effort to improve relations, and the North later stopped its own. North Korea has since rejected dialogue and unification with the South and cut off a military hotline.