Residents of areas of Kangwon Province near the border with South Korea are welcoming the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts by the military authorities of the South.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in Kangwon Province said Wednesday that military families and civilians living in the frontline areas of Kimhwa County “welcome the resumption of the South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts even if they can’t say so openly” because “it is a chance for them to get information from the outside world.”
According to the source, the frontline military units stationed in Kimhwa County have been on high alert as if a war were about to break out with the resumption of full-scale loudspeaker broadcasts by South Korea on July 21.
The families of the soldiers and civilians, however, have been listening to the broadcasts breathlessly.
“The broadcasts carry information considered sensitive by the state, such as criticism of North Korea’s three-generation hereditary power succession and propaganda supporting capitalism, as well as South Korean music such as Jang Yoon-jeong’s ‘Ollae,'” the source said. ”
Most of the residents in the frontline areas of Kimhwa County are reportedly soldiers and their families. There are relatively few crackdowns in the area, but since the authorities have been conducting nationwide crackdowns on “impure recordings” since the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of the area have had virtually no access to outside information or cultural products.
Thirsty for outside information and culture, residents of the frontline areas of Kimhwa County have been able to satisfy their cravings – at least a little – with the recent resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts in South Korea.
“Before COVID-19, few people went to South Korea, even with South Korea’s agitation through broadcasts or leaflets, because soldiers’ families got enough rations,” the source said. “Now, however, the broadcasts will really agitate people because the soldiers’ families and even the soldiers at the front-line guard posts don’t get enough food.”
South Korean military authorities played loudspeaker broadcasts for two hours on June 9 in response to North Korea’s launch of garbage-laden balloons.
But when North Korea continued to launch the balloons, South Korea escalated, with some loudspeakers broadcasting for 10 hours on July 18. Since July 21, fixed loudspeakers along the entire front line have been broadcasting simultaneously for 16 hours a day, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
