Seoul: Just weeks ago, South Korean residents in western areas near the inter-Korean border were tormented day and night by North Korean loudspeakers, blaring noise that echoed across the Han River estuary separating the two Koreas. The noise, however, abruptly stopped June 12, a day after South Korea's military suspended its own loudspeakers along the border that had aired broadcasts of K-pop, weather forecasts, and criticism of the North Korean regime.
According to Yonhap News Agency, "It was like a metallic scratching sound that was unbearable," said Hwang Hyun-yk, who manages a guesthouse on Ganghwa Island, just west of Seoul. "At its worst point, I couldn't hear someone only 5 meters away. But we don't hear it anymore; it's now very comfortable and nice," the 72-year-old said. The estuary lay quiet Wednesday as a group of reporters was given access to a Marine Corps observation post in nearby Gimpo. A North Korean loudspeaker-faintly visible in the distance through binoculars-remained silent. Only last year, the area had been a flashpoint of inter-Korean tensions.
In May, Pyongyang began launching thousands of balloons across the border to drop garbage across South Korea in what it said was a tit-for-tat move against anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent by North Korean defectors in the South. Tensions spiraled as South Korea responded by turning on its military loudspeakers the next month for the first time in eight years, prompting the North to blare noise through its own loudspeakers. Pyongyang has long bristled against the loudspeaker broadcasts and leaflets sent by activists over fears of outside information that could pose a threat to its ruling regime.
An officer at the 2nd Marine Division outpost said his troops could observe North Korean soldiers preparing the balloon launches as they also monitored the loudspeakers blaring loud noise. None of that is now apparent, he said. Just a week into office, South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung ordered the military to suspend the psychological warfare campaign in line with his pledge to mend frayed ties with the North. The quiet appears to be holding for now.
The presidential office has said the suspension is aimed at easing tensions, given the absence of any major recent provocations by Pyongyang. Since the launch of the Lee administration, North Korea has yet to stage ballistic missile launches that are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions. Despite the quiet, the estuary remains a tense and heavily guarded area, with recent North Korean activity on the northern bank. Since the North's leader Kim Jong-un described inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other" in late 2023, North Korea has reinforced the border that spans about 250 kilometers by clearing land and installing mines, anti-tank barriers, and barbed wire fences.
Similar efforts have recently been detected on the North's side across the estuary, according to the Marine Corps officer. The neutral water zone has at times served as a risky escape route for North Koreans seeking to defect to the South. During low tide, the waters become shallow enough to walk across. Last August, a North Korean defector managed to arrive at one of the islands in the area on foot. The journey, however, came at a heavy cost as another fellow defector was apparently swept away in the waters, according to another Marine Corps official.
Along with monitoring the area's around 80-kilometer-long front, Marines also have to be watchful of activities on the southern bank as civic groups attempt to send aid to North Korea by sea. Last week, six Americans were taken into custody after allegedly trying to release more than 1,000 plastic bottles carrying rice, $1 bills, and the Bible into the sea from Ganghwa Island. Similar to the leafleting campaign, activists in South Korea have utilized the tactic by timing the launches with ocean currents in an effort to send food and outside information to the heavily sanctioned country's impoverished people.
As sources of cross-border tensions linger, border residents are cherishing the silence for the time being. "I hope it all gets better," Hwang said. "It would be good if it carried on like this."