Interview
Loudspeakers, Leaflets, and Inter-Korean Dispute
Inter-Korean relations have recently become a topic of international interest once again, following the destruction of the joined liaison office on its side of the border by North Korea allegedly as a reaction to political leaflets that had been sent to the North by activists from the South. Since this, North Korea has cut off all communication channels to the South and – most recently – reinstalled propaganda speakers along the border.
To discuss these recent events on the Korean peninsula, the news channel Arirang TV broadcasted the program "NEWS IN-DEPTH" on the topic " Inter-Korean Relations, Back to Cold-War Psychological Warfare? Loudspeakers, leaflets are back“ on June 23rd. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Korea, was invited as a guest to speak about his thoughts and predictions and was joined by Prof. Balazs Szalontai, who teaches at the Department for North Korean Studies at Korea University.
The main topics included their thoughts about the political leaflets, the reasonings behind North Korea’s decision to reinstall loudspeakers at the border and possible future developments of the situation. Dr. Seliger argued that leaflets, as well as speakers are a rather inefficient instrument, very rarely reaching the general North Korean population and mostly having no impact beyond the border area. Both countries are aware of this fact though, as these measures rather serve a symbolic purpose and have been used as a diplomatic instrument and form of provocation by both countries for years. Dr. Seliger also described the former use of speakers to play K-Pop music at the border to the North to a sociocultural phenomenon comparable to Europe during Cold war times, when Eastern German citizens used to listen to rock concerts that were being held across the border in the West.
Dr. Seliger and Prof. Szalontai further discussed the topic of defector activism in the South, emphasizing on the difficulty of balancing a deescalating policy strategy while protecting citizens’ rights of free expression and non-governmental political engagement. Both stated in their forecast, that a prediction of future international events would be difficult to make at this moment, as the situation depends on many factors, including the outcome of US elections this fall.
You can watch the whole broadcast of Arirang TV on the topic "Inter-Korean Relations, Back to Cold-War Psychological Warfare? Loudspeakers, leaflets are back “ here.