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Korea Pool-Donga Daily via Getty Images
A South Korean soldier stands next to the loudspeakers near the border area between South Korea and North Korea on January 8, 2016 in Yeoncheon, South Korea.
- South Korea has been broadcasting
news of a North Korean soldier's defection over its speakers at the Demilitarized Zone. - The broadcasts have gone into detail about the defection, shooting, and how the soldier is now being looked after in South Korea.
- Broadcasts are a regular occurence at the DMZ and South Korea's loudspeakers often play Korean pop music.
South Korea is broadcasting news of a North Korean soldier's defection into North Korea, Yonhap News reported Sunday.
The broadcast, transmitted via loudspeakers installed near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), began shortly after news broke of the soldier's defection, military officials said.
South Korea's loudspeaker system at the DMZ is used as a type of psychological warfare against North Korea, working to demoralize troops.
Several defectors listened to the broadcasts before attempting an escape, and one man who defected in June said he became "enamored" with South Korea's development from listening to the loudspeakers.
North Korean soldiers have heard in detail how a 24-year-old fellow soldier - who has only been identified by his family name, "Oh," - defected, was shot, and is now being treated in South Korea.
"The news about an elite soldier like a JSA guard having fled in a hail of bullets will have a significant psychological impact on North Korean border guards," a South Korean military spokesman told Chosun Ilbo.
Last week, the United Nations Command released a video showing Oh crossing the border into South Korea as North Korean soldiers fired their weapons at him.
The soldier was found on the south side of the border village of Panmunjom, about 50 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line, having been shot five times.
According to Reuters, more than 1,000 North Koreans defect to South Korea every year via China, but it is unusual for defectors to cross the land border dividing the two Koreas, which have been in a technical state of war since 1953 when conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
Loudspeaker diplomacy is popular on both sides of the DMZ
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
This is not the first time South Korea, or North Korea, has used a loudspeaker system on its border to spread propaganda.
The DMZ is actually one of the world's busiest regions for such broadcasts.
South Korea's propaganda program has used giant loudspeakers periodically since the Korean War but has become more subtle in recent years, according to the BBC. Broadcasts include weather reports, news from both Koreas and abroad, and discussion of life in South Korea.
The speakers have also played hours of K-Pop music from South Korean musicians and groups over the years.
According to The Diplomat, the system went unused for 11 years. It was used briefly in August 2015 after North Korea injured two South Korean soldiers, and were fully reinstated in January 2016 after North Korea's fourth nuclear test.
North Korea has indicated the broadcasts successfully demoralize its troops.
According to the BBC, North Korea also broadcasts content, but these are usually harder to hear and usually blast strong condemnations of Seoul and its allies.
Yonhap News reports South Korea's loudspeakers are loud enough to be heard up to 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) inside North Korea.