Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Wednesday that Pyongyang will resume loudspeaker broadcasts along the inter-Korean border this month.
Kim's remarks were the latest from Pyongyang to up the pressure on Seoul, which has sought to make conciliatory gestures toward Pyongyang in an attempt to deescalate tensions.
Kim, director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that propaganda loudspeakers directed toward South Korea will be fully operational along the entire border by the end of the month.
Kim called the measure legitimate and appropriate, as Pyongyang continues border fortification and tactical unit deployments.
She also claimed that South Korean military forces had engaged in provocations in at least two locations in the form of loudspeaker warnings and warning shots on Wednesday, adding that any additional gunfire would escalate border tensions to an unimaginable level.
South Korea has not yet responded to the claim.
Kim's remarks followed her visit Wednesday morning to heavily armed border sites with Pak Jong-chon, a marshal of the Korean People's Army.
Kim warned of the possible resumption of propaganda broadcasts early this week, as she said South Korean actions had intensified following what she called Seoul's "fabricated mine explosion incident," apparently referring to two land mine blasts on Sept. 21 that injured three South Korean military personnel in the Demilitarized Zone.
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