Why Loudspeakers and Leaflets Became North Korea’s Worst Nightmare?

North Korea’s Successful Spy Satellite Launch

Tensions are rising among countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula after North Korea officially announced its successful launch of a spy satellite. North Korea’s claims to be successful are threatening because the technology to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the technology to launch a satellite are the same. Although it is impossible to verify that it can establish an ICBM loaded with nuclear warheads anywhere in the world, including the United States, it is clear that it poses a threat to neighboring countries.

Fear of the Nuclear Triad

North Korea’s aim to possess ballistic missiles loaded with nuclear warheads is due to its fear of the nuclear triad established by the U.S. and South Korean military authorities. If North Korea provokes nuclear and missile tests, the nuclear triad of strategic bombers, strategic nuclear-powered submarines, and intercontinental ballistic missiles can carry nuclear weapons to attack North Korea’s command, leading to the collapse of the North Korean regime.

However, there’s a strategic weapon that the North Korean regime, especially Kim Jong Un, fears more than nuclear weapons. It’s the loudspeakers and leaflets aimed at North Korea. In August 2015, in response to the provocation of the mine explosion, our military resumed loudspeaker broadcasts, and the frontline command of the People’s Army threatened to “strike indiscriminately” if it did not stop.

In January 2016, the government also decided to resume broadcasting to North Korea fully, defining North Korea’s fourth nuclear test as a severe violation of the 8.25 South-North Agreement. North Korea also showed a sensitive reaction, raising tensions between the two Koreas by threatening to respond with military action.

Impact of Broadcasting on North Korea

Experts view broadcasting to North Korea as the ‘psychological warfare weapon’ that inflicts the most damage on the country. When the output is maximized, the broadcast content can be heard clearly from up to 15 miles away at night and approximately 6 miles away during the day. In fact, during the Yongsun Station explosion accident in North Korea in 2004, it broadcasted in real-time that “there was a large explosion at Yongsun Station, causing a lot of human and property damage, and South Korea will support generously from a fraternal perspective.” The revelation that soldiers from North Korea’s frontline military units had written about the Yongsan Station explosion accident in letters to their families subsequently threw the North Korean military into disarray.

The effect of broadcasting to North Korea is so significant that the number of defectors from the North Korean military and defectors has increased, and the ideological confusion within North Korea has deepened, causing the North Korean command to feel a great crisis.

A security official emphasized, “We must consult with the United States about using the North Korean pressure card, like deploying strategic assets, a key part of our extended deterrence against North Korean provocations. However, broadcasting to North Korea using something as direct as a powerful loudspeaker is our government’s most formidable diplomatic tool, always ready for use.”

Content of Broadcasting and Leaflets

The contents of broadcasting and leaflets to North Korea are mainly about the reality of North Korean society. In addition to the internal news of North Korea, it also broadcasts the truth of human rights oppression in North Korea and the importance of human rights. This is why North Korea experts unanimously evaluate that it is like a ‘rat poison’ to North Korea.

Our military’s fixed and mobile loudspeakers have high-output speakers. Through these speakers, news dealing with North Korean reality, weather information, and popular songs are broadcasted to the front line within about 12 miles, and the sound is delivered to not only the North Korean military units but also the residents of the border area. In the evening, the listening distance is up to about 18 miles.

North Korean Sensitivity to Broadcasts and Leaflets

This can cause internal unrest among North Korean residents, so the effect of the loudspeakers is more significant than expected. Moreover, it is known that the credibility of the content of the loudspeaker broadcasts is relatively high not only among North Korean residents but also within the North Korean military.

For example, if you say, “Because of Kim Jong Il, the South Korean government will not send rice for the next two years,” all the rice in the North Korean market will disappear, and the market will fluctuate. The price of rice in North Korea is a barometer of public sentiment. The Kim Jong Un regime, suffering from the aftermath of currency exchange, has no choice but to face fierce resistance from public sentiment due to the surge in rice prices. It shakes the North Korean command with more powerful explosiveness than any conventional weapon.

North Korean Command Recognizes it as a “Powerful Psychological Warfare Tool”

Since both the North Korean regime and the residents in the border area can hear the broadcast content, the North Korean regime views it as a “powerful psychological warfare tool.” It has the effect of causing military and civilian unrest, so North Korea reacts extremely sensitively and requests a halt whenever there is an opportunity for South-North dialogue. On the other hand, North Korea has installed broadcasting facilities to counter South Korea’s loudspeakers, but it has not been effective due to low output and unstable electricity supply.

Thus, the loudspeakers of North Korea are a deadly weapon that can threaten North Korea in psychological warfare against North Korea. A North Korean soldier who defected across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in June 2017 cited the broadcasts to North Korea as a critical influence on his decision. Tae Young Ho, a People’s Power lawmaker and former North Korean diplomat, commented, “Resuming broadcasts to North Korea through loudspeakers would have a greater impact now, given the current state of North Korea.” He added that soldiers now entering the military are already familiar with the South Korean language, having secretly watched Korean movies and dramas in their hometowns.

Effectiveness of Flyers

Another card that can shake North Korea is allowing the private sector to send leaflets to North Korea.

Since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration, the North Korean leadership has strongly opposed the sending of leaflets (flyers) to North Korea by private groups centered on defectors. In October 2008, the North Korean delegation brought a box filled with hundreds of leaflets from a civilian organization to the South-North Military Practical Meeting and threw it, expressing strong dissatisfaction. The North Korean military also threatened to take ‘more than’ measures, including restricting and blocking passage to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, mentioning this issue on the 16th of the same month.

Why is North Korea so sensitive to flyers flying from the South? Son Kwang Ju, editor-in-chief of DailyNK, explained, “North Korea is a country of propaganda and agitation, so if it fails to block the distribution of external information through flyers, it can bring about the collapse of the regime, so it knows very well that the power is tremendous.”

For example, according to defectors, there was a big commotion when the leaflets sent by South Korean civilian organizations fell on Kim Il Sung Square, the heart of Pyongyang, on the 9.9 Festival, the founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party in 2009. The leaflet bore the title “I accuse Kim Jong Il.” It struck at the heart of North Korea, a regime sustained by propaganda, agitation, and control of external information. This direct hit sent the North Korean command into a state of turmoil.

Leaflets Expose Kim Jong Un’s Luxurious Life and Corruption

This leaflet, in the form of a complaint letter sent to the National Security Protection Agency, the regime maintenance agency of North Korea, specified his crimes as ① special theft ② special rape and minor assault ③ career fraud and special fraud ④ kidnapping and special murder ⑤ special political crime.

The background of the North Korean military boiling is also one reason for the extreme reaction.

The leaflets sent from South Korea deal with the luxury life and corruption of Chairman Kim Jong-un. To avoid the stigma of the highest disgrace, it must react aggressively. Sources say some North Korean officials are spreading malicious propaganda, claiming that “AIDS germs are attached to the flyers.” Yet, rumors suggest that almost none of the residents believe this claim.

By. Hyun Ho Lee