Ian Williams
NBC News
There are a lot of reasons why the world's most fortified border is scary, but what has really rattled North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are 11 loudspeaker installations hidden among the trees just south of the boundary.
The nuclear-armed North has condemned South Korean propaganda being blasted from the speakers as equivalent to a declaration of war.
It was this that triggered Thursday's exchange of fire across the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, and Kim's latest ultimatum — stop the broadcasts by 5 p.m. Saturday (4:30 a.m. ET) or face military action.
He has placed his army on what the North calls a "quasi state of war."
What makes this incident more worrying is that this time the North followed through with a threat, which usually doesn't happen. And the South hit back robustly, something that is also rare.
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Blasting propaganda across the border used to be a routine weapon of both Koreas. But the broadcasts stopped in 2004.
Seoul resumed the broadcasts 11 days ago after two South Korean soldiers were badly injured by a freshly-laid mine in the DMZ. The incident caused anger and outrage in the South. The North later followed suit.
The latest broadcasts focus on the superiority of life in South Korea — as well as South Korean soap operas.
Cha Duhyeogn, a North Korea expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification said that Kim's regime is also upset because the South's loudspeakers are much more high tech and generally superior to their own hissing efforts.
"They are upset more by the quality of the speakers than the content itself," Cha said.
On Thursday, North Korea fired two shells into the South, apparently in protest at the broadcasts. The South hit back with a barrage of 29 shells of its own.
Officials in Seoul say the South will continue the broadcasts and will respond forcefully to any provocation over the weekend.
More here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/north-korea-puts-army-quasi-state-war-sets-loudspeaker-deadline-n413636
