Kim Yo Jong: "Loudspeakers on Standby Within Days... New Means of Response Soon to Be on Standby for Action"

Targets Blue House Special Adviser Kim Byung-joo: "Mouthing Off Irresponsibly"

Kim Yo Jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea's Workers' Party, criticized the Lee Jaemyung administration and said anti-South loudspeakers would be placed on standby within days. In response to the South Korean military's warning broadcasts and warning shots after North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), she also announced that new means of response would be placed on standby for duty.

Kim Yo Jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea's Workers' Party. Yonhap News Agency

According to the Korean Central News Agency on October 22, Kim said in a statement early that morning, "Along the entire border, our new means of response will be placed on standby for duty, and our loudspeakers aimed at South Korea will also be placed on standby within days."

She added, "If, in a fit of pathological bravado, you make even a single 'mistake,' whether intentionally or not, you will have to be prepared for everything. You will be shattered, broken and brought down on a massive scale."

North Korea has repeatedly protested the South Korean military's response to North Korean troops crossing the MDL while fortifying the border area. The South Korean military responds with warning broadcasts and warning shots when North Korean troops cross the MDL while working.

On October 19, Kim said North Korea was considering increasing the deployment of tactical strike assets and resuming anti-South loudspeaker broadcasts. The previous day, it was disclosed that Park Jong Chon, an adviser to the Ministry of National Defense, had visited a construction site on October 20 and instructed troops to "immediately counterattack" against provocations that threaten their safety. North Korea is making its threats more specific, moving from saying it was "considering" a response to ordering a counterattack and announcing that its loudspeakers would be placed on standby.

Kim said that day, "The permanent border construction in our territory, where our sovereignty is exercised, will continue successfully and without fail in accordance with our objectives." She justified the construction, saying, "Once the border is fortified, the risk of military clashes between North and South Korea will be significantly reduced." She added, "We are not 'provoking' anyone; we are responding justifiably."

Kim also targeted Kim Byungjoo, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and special adviser on defense policy to the Blue House, saying, "That person who serves as the Blue House's special adviser on defense policy should stop rambling and shut his mouth immediately." She added, "He doesn't even know what 'blaming the victim' means, and someone as insignificant as a minnow is spouting irresponsible nonsense."

The previous day, Assemblyman Kim criticized her on Facebook, saying, "Director Kim Yo Jong, don't pick up an anti-South loudspeaker with the same hands you used to plant landmines." He added, "Kim Yo Jong is threatening us with loudspeakers while insisting, with an obvious lie, that the landmine provocation was a 'self-inflicted incident.' This is shameless, brazen blame-shifting."

She also said of the Lee Jaemyung administration, "I have never seen anyone as foolish and pathetic as those who have climbed aboard the 'ox cart' of the current administration." She went on to threaten, "The current authorities will face the most devastating and troubling situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.