South Korea Planning Action Against The North
North Koreans were never informed of the widely-reported poisoning death of their Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, going about their Friday afternoon in the oppressive nation entirely unaware of the major scandal enveloping their government. South Korea, one of the North's biggest enemies and closest neighbors, is reportedly planning on changing that, however, by blaring the news over loudspeakers positioned on the border.
South Korean officials are mulling over a decision to use loudspeakers to blare messages of Kim Jong Nam’s death toward the reclusive North, a move it’s used before during times of heightened conflict with Kim Jong Un’s regime, NBC News reported Friday. "We are considering providing information about the killing of Kim Jong Nam into North Korea via loudspeaker broadcast," a South Korean official confirmed.
South Korean soldiers removed loudspeakers set up for propaganda purposes near the demiltarized zone in Paju, about 55km (34 miles) north of Seoul June 16, 2004. Photo: Reuters
The South has used loudspeakers along its shared border with North Korea, while simultaneously aggravating the top-most levels of North Korea’s secretive government. It isn't typical for the Southern military to report details of international developments or conflicts involving the Norther regime, however.
South Korea blared Korean pop music toward the North in August 2015, prompting Kim Jong Un’s military to declare a wartime state. The divided nations engaged in temporary gunfire exchange after a northern official fired at one of the loudspeakers, though nobody was injured in the incident. Both nations have used loudspeakers before to spread propaganda across both sides of the border.
The news arrives as North Korea has been continuing to defy sanctions by testing ballistic missile launches, most recently firing a warhead into the Japanese sea while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump were meeting in the United States. North Korea’s unstable relations with the outside world have become even more turbulent as Kim Jong Un continues to face defections from government officials, including Stephen Evans, a high-profile diplomat who defected to the South.
Meanwhile, North Koreans reportedly believe they are already immersed in an ongoing state of war, as Kim Jong Un's government continues to expand its nuclear arsenal and military operations.
"North Korea is increasingly growing in power ... it is not certain we will survive," Michael Kirby, a former Australian High Court judge who produced a human rights abuses report on North Korea, told ABC News Friday. "We will only survive if humanity can grasp the situation and deal with the risks, we shouldn't ignore this, it is a very serious moment in human history."
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