S Korea resumes propaganda broadcasts hated by North

In response to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea on Thursday announced it would resume cross-border propaganda broadcasts that Pyongyang considers an act of war.

South Korean troops, near about 10 sites where loudspeakers started blaring propaganda Friday, were on the highest alert, but have yet to detect any unusual movement from the North Korean military along the border, an official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry, who refused to be named, citing office rules, said Saturday.

South Korean officials say there have been no disruptions so far at an industrial park jointly operated by the rivals in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.

The last time South Korea deployed the loudspeakers, in retaliation for a landmine blast in August that wounded two South Korean soldiers, it led to an exchange of artillery fire.

The North’s broadcasts were not clearly audible from the South and appeared meant to drown out those from the South, Yonhap said, citing a South Korean official. In 2002, South Korea used loudspeakers to relay the news of their national soccer team’s storybook run to the semifinals of the World Cup soccer tournament, which was co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

The nuclear test carried out by North Korea on Wednesday drew angry reactions from the USA and China, who had not been given prior notice about the test. That reaches numerous huge force of North Korean soldiers stationed near the border and also residents in border towns such as Kaesong, where the Koreas jointly operate an industrial park that has been a valuable cash source for the impoverished North.

When the five-step WATCHCON moves up one notch, the number of intelligence staff doubles or triples and surveillance of North Korea is expanded.

Korean pop music – K-Pop as it is known – may not seem like a formidable weapon, but Big Bang’s hit song Bang Bang Bang has been blasted across the demilitarized zone as part of South Korea’s psychological warfare.

Meanwhile, South Korea resumed its frontier broadcasts, which the isolated North has in the past threatened to stop with military strikes.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry said he clarified in a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China’s way to deal with North Korea had failed.

The test set off a diplomatic frenzy as the UN Security Council met to discuss possible sanctions and world leaders sought to build a consensus on an appropriate response to such a grave violation of UN resolutions.

China joined the global chorus of outrage but has not yet said whether it will impose tough new sanctions. B-2 and B-52 bombers are capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

The claims by North Korea that it conducted a hydrogen bomb test are the top priority for talks during Mr Hammond’s visit.

Kasich says the United States must collaborate more with China to halt North Korea’s nuclear efforts. But South Korea sees K-pop and propaganda as quick ways to show its displeasure – and a guaranteed irritant to the North’s sensitive and proud leadership.

At least three US intelligence-gathering aircraft left a USA air base Thursday on the Japanese island of Okinawa, though it wasn’t clear if they were investigating the North Korean explosion.