A portion of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is pictured on May 24, 2017. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — The South Korean loudspeakers blaring at the Demilitarized Zone are causing pain for the residents of the nearby Unification Village, the village chief told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.
Since Monday, the South Korean armed forces’ “Voice of Freedom” has been broadcasting around-the-clock to North Koreans that their troops are deployed to Russia to support the invasion of Ukraine, Lee Wanbae said.
“Not only me but also my villagers have been hearing the anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts all day long every day,” he said. “The military broadcasts it from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. … and it is very loud. So, our ears are starting to hurt.”
Unification Village, in a buffer zone just outside the DMZ, is just over a mile from the no-man’s land dividing the two countries.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimates the North has sent nearly 12,000 troops, including special forces, to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the service told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in June to a mutual defense pact in the event either country is attacked.
Russian Ambassador to Seoul Georgy Zinoviev was summoned Monday by South Korea’s first vice foreign minister, Kim Hong-kyun, who “strongly” called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and to “stop relevant cooperation” with Pyongyang, according to a foreign ministry news release that day.
A spokesman for the South’s Ministry of National Defense declined to comment on the broadcasts. A spokesman for the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are produced by the armed forces’ Defense Psychological Operation Group.
The joint chiefs do not comment on the content of those broadcasts, the spokesman said.
It’s customary in South Korea for some government officials to speak to the media without identifying themselves.
