South Korea strikes back over H-bomb test with loudspeaker broadcasts

South Korea is retaliating against the North’s nuclear bomb test by bombarding it with propaganda messages across the border. Seoul said it would resume the loudspeaker broadcasts tomorrow, which is believed to be the birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The move, announced a day after the North said it had successfully tested a miniature hydrogen bomb, is guaranteed to infuriate its neighbour, which regards them as an act of war. The south also began talks with Washington which could see the arrival of nuclear-powered U.S. submarines and warplanes to the Korean Peninsula.

(The international community) must make sure that North Korea pays the corresponding price

South Korea’s presidential office

There are about 40 loudspeakers in secret locations along the border and they are used to play messages to soldiers and others in the North. Seoul briefly restarted the broadcasts in August for the first time in 11 years in retaliation for land mine blasts which maimed two South Korean soldiers. The North threatened to retaliate before a package of agreements was agreed to ease the stand-off. Announcing the resumption of the broadcasts, presidential security official Cho Tae-yong said the North’s latest nuclear test was a “grave violation” of the deal.