Despite the fact that domestic criticisms of the South Korean military’s reaction to North Korea’s deliberate and indiscriminate shelling of a civilian residential area on Yeonpyeong Island have been loud, it has nevertheless been rumored that the South Korean administration will not resume psychological warfare.
A South Korean daily newspaper, Donga Ilbo reported today that an anonymous official in the administration informed them yesterday, “Even though the resumption of psychological warfare has been suggested during discussions of various counter-measures to North Korea’s provocation, the administration has decided not to do this.”
The official apparently added, “As far as I know, this measure was excluded from the list of possible options because the effects are not immediate and it is not without risk.”
The administration declared its intention to restart a range of psychological warfare measures as part of the May 24 Measures following the Cheonan sinking, but subsequently put much of it off on the premise of waiting until the culmination of UN Security Council deliberations. Since the administration then decided to wait until after “any future” provocation, it was viewed in some quarters as almost inevitable that the measures would be implemented this time.
However, given that the Ministry of National Defense has not moved on the warfare yet, it seems that it has taken a step back.
This delicate stance is rather surprising, especially in the current situation. The South’s military response to the North Korean shelling has been widely criticized for being both late and weak, and the President has been attacked for being too focused on avoiding escalation to even defend the people, meaning that resumption of psychological warfare was seen as both one of the few ways left by which to influence the North Korean military, and a way for the administration to regain some strength. Voices demanding resumption have been prominent, and loud.
However, one expert on security, explaining the current administration’s attitude, said it seems to be because resumption of psychological warfare could cause additional North Korean provocations.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense has not revealed its official stance yet. An official from the Ministry said in an interview with The Daily NK, “We have been doing psychological warfare, and in the future we will do the necessary psychological warfare, too. However, it is difficult to reveal officially how this should be done.”
There are three kinds of psychological warfare: loudspeaker broadcasts, spreading leaflets and FM radio broadcasting, the latter of which is the only one the South has been doing since May 24th this year. The South Korean military has set up loudspeakers in 11 areas along the DMZ and has prepared 11 kinds of leaflets, around 1.23 million in total, at six bases around the nation.
The official was reluctant to reveal when or how they would start it, if at all, reaffirming, “It is difficult to talk about the timing and method,” adding, “if we are to carry out it adequately and effectively.”
Kim Yeon Su, a professor with Korean National Defense University, said, “What we can take from this is that North Korea is embarking on stronger and more excessive military adventures.” He added, “It is a time to carry out fully the May 24th Measure corresponding to this. Out of the measures, the resumption of psychological warfare must be considered.”
The anonymous security expert, however, does not hold out much hope, saying, “I worry that our administration’s will to deal with it based on principles is getting weaker,” and added, “The core of psychological warfare is the notion of an active deterrent, so we need to implement it right now. If we dawdle again, we will miss the time to resume the psychological warfare once again.”
