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SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry on Thursday called on North Korea to immediately stop acts that could increase the risk of clashes with South Korea along the border after the North warned of resuming loudspeaker broadcasts against Seoul.
The ministry issued the statement after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened to resume propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts targeting South Korea within days, and warned of a "horrible and distressing situation" amid tensions over Pyongyang's ongoing border fortification work.
"Actions that violate the Armistice Agreement, and heighten tensions and the risk of clashes along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) must be stopped immediately," the ministry said, referring to the agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
It also warned against repeating past mistakes, noting that the two Koreas had operated loudspeakers targeting each other until June 2025, causing "unbearable suffering" for people on both sides of the border.
"The fundamental solution to preventing tensions and the risk of clashes between the two Koreas is to reconcile their positions on the MDL and establish a communication system for its peaceful management as soon as possible," the ministry said.
Foreign tourists look toward the North Korean side of the Imjin River from the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 20, 2026. (Yonhap)
A unification ministry official said any decision on South Korea's resumption of anti-North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts as a proportional measure "will be made through consultations among relevant government agencies."
South Korea suspended its anti-North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts in June 2025, shortly after President Lee Jae Myung took office, in a move aimed at easing military tensions. North Korea also halted its own loudspeaker broadcasts shortly afterward.
As a follow-up measure, the South Korean military dismantled about 20 fixed loudspeaker systems along the border in August 2025.
North Korea has stepped up efforts to fortify its border with South Korea since April 2024, following leader Kim's characterization of inter-Korean ties as relations between "two states hostile to each other."
North Korea's border fortification work has repeatedly brought North Korean troops across the MDL, prompting South Korean forces to issue warning broadcasts and fire warning shots to make them withdraw. Seoul has described the measures as defensive actions aimed at preventing border violations.
North Korean loudspeakers (R) are seen along the Imjin River, which runs across the inter-Korean border, in Kaepung on the western front-line border with South Korea, in this photo taken from an observatory in the South Korean border city of Paju on Oct. 20, 2026, a day after Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the situation at the southern border is "very unstable," noting the North is reviewing a possible resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts along the border. (Yonhap)
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