GANGHWA COUNTY, South Korea: For South Koreans living close to the North, life has been unbearable for months.
Every day since July last year, loudspeakers on the other side of the inter-Korean border have been blaring haunting noises or loud crackly ones, like a gong being beaten or metal grinding. Other sounds include screaming, dogs howling and gunshots.
These North Korean broadcasts have affected villages near the border like Dangsan-ri in Ganghwa County, located about 1.7km away from the hermit kingdom.
Residents have asked the South Korean defence ministry and other government officials for help, saying the sounds seem straight out of a horror movie. But the issue has not been resolved.
Now, with Donald Trump’s return to the White House just days away, they are hoping the incoming United States president can help them.
Relations between America and North Korea have stalled under current US President Joe Biden’s administration, contributing to escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950 to 1953 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
“PLEASE SAVE US”
The North’s broadcasts are believed to be a retaliatory measure against the South’s resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts in July, playing K-pop songs and anti-North Korean propaganda messages.
This was in response to Pyongyang launching hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border. The two Koreas had been engaged in a tit-for-tat balloon campaign.
