‘Will mercilessly eliminate’: North Korea warns South, to activate border-wide 'anti-South' loudspeakers

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has warned that the country’s troops will “mercilessly eliminate” South Korean forces if their warning fire causes actual harm to North Korean territory or soldiers, as Pyongyang prepares to reactivate anti-Seoul propaganda loudspeakers along the entire border by the end of October.In a statement carried by state media KCNA on Wednesday, the director of the general affairs department of the workers' party of Korea accused South Korean forces of issuing loudspeaker warnings and firing warning shots at North Korean troops involved in fortifying the heavily militarised border. She said North Korean forces were exercising restraint while preparing for any contingency.“If the enemy’s provocative warning fire goes beyond its stated purpose and results in actual harm to the safety of our territory or our soldiers, our border troops will mercilessly eliminate the armed thugs who have lost their reason,” Kim Yo said, as quoted by Reuters.Kim made the remarks after visiting border locations with North Korean Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon, amid rising tensions between the two Koreas over Pyongyang’s fortification work.“Our tactical hunting teams are taking new positions, and within October, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare against the ROK will be in operation along the whole border,” she said, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.The planned deployment threatens to reverse South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s efforts to ease tensions with Pyongyang. His administration halted Seoul’s propaganda broadcasts and dismantled its fixed loudspeakers last year.Tensions have intensified since North Korea began reinforcing its border in April 2024. Seoul has accused Pyongyang of sending thousands of workers to the frontier and said North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line around 50 times this year during fortification work.South Korea has also blamed North Korean-laid mines for explosions on September 21 that seriously injured soldiers near the border. Pyongyang has denied responsibility for the blasts and rejected Seoul’s allegations over border crossings.Pak, who accompanied Kim during the inspection, accused Seoul of making “deliberate, premeditated and absurd” claims to shift blame onto the North. He urged troops to turn the border into an “impregnable fortress” and warned of an overwhelming response to South Korean provocations.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.