North Korea: We Have Not and Will Not Remove Propaganda Loudspeakers from the Border Area
Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Workers’ Party of korea Central Committee and influential sister of leader Kim Jong-un, said Pyongyang currently has no interest in reviving negotiations with Washington or Seoul.
She emphasized that “North Korea has never removed loudspeakers and has no intention to do so.”
The North korean leader’s sister added, “We have clearly stated multiple times that we have no desire to improve relations with South Korea. This position will remain enshrined in our constitution going forward.”
Reiterating previous North korean statements, she stressed that her country is not interested in restarting long-stalled talks with Washington or Seoul.
The deputy director of the ruling party’s central committee cited upcoming joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S., and also Japan, as evidence of their continued hostility toward Pyongyang.
The South Korean military earlier this week claimed that North Korea had removed some propaganda loudspeakers from along the border. This assertion came days after Seoul dismantled its own loudspeakers aimed at criticizing Pyongyang.
Kim Yo-jong, who also holds a key role in North Korea’s propaganda apparatus, described Seoul’s claim as an “unfounded and one-sided conjecture” made ”to divert public attention.”
Following his inauguration, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered shutting down border loudspeakers set up to criticize North Korea.This move aimed to restart frozen dialog between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Despite declaring an armistice after the 1950-1953 war, both Koreas technically remain at war. Relations have deteriorated sharply over recent years.
Former President Moon Jae-in removed these loudspeakers in 2018 as part of a policy halting hostile acts likely to spark military conflict.
However, last year former conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered restoring them following incursions by balloons carrying trash and human waste from North Korea into South Korean airspace.
