North Korea will have propaganda loudspeakers "in operation along the whole border" with South Korea by the end of October, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement carried by state media on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. She also warned that North Korean troops would "mercilessly eliminate" South Korean forces if warning fire caused harm, according to Reuters.
What Kim Yo-jong said
- She inspected fortification sites along the border with Pak Jong-chon, an adviser to the Ministry of National Defence, according to Yonhap.
- She said new positions were being taken up by "tactical hunting teams."
- She accused South Korean troops of firing warning shots and making warning broadcasts in "at least two spots."
- She said fortifying the border would mean the danger of conflict "will undoubtedly be eliminated."
State news agency KCNA said Kim Jong-un had ordered that the border with the "enemy state" be made impregnable.
Seoul's response
South Korea's military called its warning shots "legitimate and defensive measures." The defence ministry said it would take "proportionate measures" if the North acted, but that no decision had been made, according to Reuters. Seoul's Unification Ministry urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue.
Analyst Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam University told Reuters the threats pose an "enormous dilemma" for President Lee Jae-myung, who has tried to ease tensions since taking office in June 2025.
Background: from détente to "two hostile states"
Loudspeaker broadcasts have long been a flashpoint on the Korean peninsula. After Lee took office, South Korea stopped its own broadcasts and dismantled its loudspeakers, and the North then suspended its broadcasts, according to Reuters. The renewed threat suggests that gesture has not changed Pyongyang's course.
Since April 2024, North Korea has laid mines and built fences and anti-tank barriers along the border, following Kim Jong-un's 2023 declaration that the two Koreas are "two hostile states" rather than one nation awaiting reunification. Last month, landmine blasts in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which Seoul blames on the North, wounded South Korean soldiers; reports differ on whether two or three were hurt. North Korea denies responsibility.
What happens next
The key test is whether the loudspeakers are switched on by 31 October, and whether Seoul responds by restarting its own broadcasts, a step that could trigger the kind of tit-for-tat escalation seen in previous years.
