North Korea threatens fresh border measures, weighs loudspeaker broadcasts amid tensions with Seoul

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement on state media KCNA on Monday that her country was considering deploying additional tactical weapons and restarting loudspeaker broadcasts near the border with South Korea.

"Now the situation of the southern border is very unstable," she said.

"The warmongers of the ROK military are seriously threatening the safety of our service personnel by firing warning shots at them with automatic rifles and large-calibre machine guns," she said, referring to the official name for South Korea.

Tensions between North and South Korea have risen since Pyongyang began fortifying its border in April 2024. The two countries are separated by the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that was established when the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.

South Korea's military said on October 5 that the North had deployed as many as 7,000 workers this year to install mines and fences, with about 50 incidents of crossing the border.

North Korean mines caused a border blast last month that seriously wounded two of its soldiers, the South said, and called on Pyongyang to suspend the fortification work.

"The South Korean military has been on high alert on North Korea's fortification works, firing warning shots and conducting loudspeaker broadcasts," said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. "And Pyongyang seems to be worrying that such warning activities by Seoul might escalate tensions near the border or cause a military conflict."

Kim Yo Jong said Seoul had carried out 2,870 rounds of loudspeaker warnings and fired 201 warning shots from August 1 to October 17.

Seoul has not disclosed data on its activities near the border to counter North Korea's fortification works.

"To cope with the prevailing situation, our military leadership is examining the issues of deploying more tactical strike means along the southern border as a pre-emptive and suppressive measure to deal with contingency, and of resuming loudspeaker broadcasting against the ROK, and considering other necessary and appropriate measures," she said.

South Korea's defence ministry was not immediately available to comment.