Kim Yo Jong: “Loudspeaker broadcasts toward South Korea to resume in October” ... restart after 1 year and 4 months

[Financial News] Kim Yo Jong, director of the Workers’ Party’s General Affairs Department, declared that loudspeaker broadcasts toward South Korea would resume in October across the entire border. Kim said she had spent the day on the 21st inspecting fortified areas along the border. North Korea stopped transmitting noisy loudspeaker broadcasts toward South Korea on June 12 last year. If it resumes the broadcasts this month, it will be after a hiatus of about 1 year and 4 months (16 months).
Kim made the remarks in a report from Pyongyang carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that day. She also disparaged the South Korean military as armed thugs, claiming, “Today, too, at least at two locations, they blasted provocative warning broadcasts over loudspeakers and fired warning shots.”
She threatened, “Our tactical hunting squads are taking up new positions, and by October, psychological warfare loudspeakers directed at South Korea will be operational along the entire border.”
She claimed this was North Korea’s most legitimate measure and an appropriate response.
Kim said, “Suppose that, in a situation like today’s, we were to fire warning shots back at the enemy,” adding, “The situation along the border would deteriorate beyond imagination.”
She said North Korea was exercising a high degree of restraint and thoroughly preparing for any eventuality.
Kim threatened, “If the enemy’s provocative warning shots go beyond being a warning and result in actual harm to territorial security or the safety of our service members, we will deal with the enemy without mercy.”
She said work to fortify the border was progressing smoothly.
Kim said, “The border was clearly blocked off and is becoming increasingly fortified.”
She went on to report, “The head of state stressed that it is a terrible tragedy to share a border with the world’s most squalid and despicable enemy, and that this border must therefore become a permanent line that can never be crossed.”
Kim also unusually revealed a date error in KCNA’s report that day. KCNA had earlier incorrectly reported that Kim inspected the border fortifications the previous day. Correcting this, Kim said, “KCNA made an error in the date when it published the report,” and, “I visited several places along the border in the early hours of today, the 21st, not the previous day.”
Kim Yo Jong’s activities that day gave the impression that she was standing in for her older brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Although rumors that Kim Jong Un was gravely ill had recently spread in foreign media, North Korea denied them on the 19th by releasing photos of him inspecting a site. However, some raised suspicions that the report had been fabricated or its date changed.
[email protected] Kim Gyeong-su Reporter