'Not willing to remove them': North's Kim Yo-jong refutes loudspeaker removal claims by South
Published: 14 Aug. 2025, 09:32
![Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, makes a speech on Aug. 10, 2022. [RODONG SINMUN]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/14/1ec410aa-fe3b-4f98-807c-6d1fab9823c5.jpg)
Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, makes a speech on Aug. 10, 2022. [RODONG SINMUN]
Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said Thursday that Pyongyang has not dismantled its loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border — and has no intention of doing so.
In a statement titled “Hope of Seoul Is Nothing but a Foolish Dream,” released via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim rebutted President Lee Jae Myung’s remarks on Aug. 12, when he said that the North had begun removing some of its loudspeakers.
"The ROK has a dream of spring at an unseasonable time," Kim said in the statement, referring to South Korea as the Republic of Korea (ROK).
"If a dream is dreamed very often, it will be an empty one, and so many suppositions will lead to so many contradictions that will not be solved," she continued. "We have never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them."
“We have clarified on several occasions that we have no will to improve relations with the ROK, the U.S. faithful servant and ally, and this conclusive stand and viewpoint will be fixed in our constitution in the future," Kim said.
![The photo shows a North Korean guard post and loudspeaker facing the South along the Imjin River in Paju, Gyeonggi, near the inter-Korean border on Aug. 10. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/14/94b0cf4b-45bd-4669-8500-a09a4194a1ea.jpg)
The photo shows a North Korean guard post and loudspeaker facing the South along the Imjin River in Paju, Gyeonggi, near the inter-Korean border on Aug. 10. [YONHAP]
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Aug. 9 that the North had begun taking down some of its loudspeakers in response to the South’s own dismantling efforts. However, only a small number of the North’s 40 or so loudspeaker sites were reported to have been affected.
Kim also dismissed the decision by Seoul and Washington to adjust parts of the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, set to begin Aug. 18, saying, " It does not deserve praise and will prove futile."
She accused the current Korean administration of trying to appear conciliatory after reversing measures taken under former President Yoon Suk Yeol, describing it as "trying to meet someone's response and be praised for the 'such a good deed.'"
"Such a trick is nothing but a 'pipedream' and it does not arouse our interest at all," Kim said. "Whether the ROK withdraws its loudspeakers or not, stops broadcasting or not, postpones its military exercises or not and downscales them or not, we do not care about them and are not interested in them."
Kim went on to reaffirm the North’s rejection of any improvement in inter-Korean ties.
![South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers installed along the border with North Korea on Aug. 4. [MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/14/c7cfcfa4-5757-47b3-b4b2-e11e185c90c6.jpg)
South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers installed along the border with North Korea on Aug. 4. [MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE]
“Our stand on a dangerous and base state, which is imposing a constant security threat on the DPRK should be clearer, and the ROK should be permanently described as the most hostile forces in its true colors, which should be stipulated in our national law," she said.
She also addressed speculation that the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday, might lead to a resumption of talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
“Why should we send a message to the U.S. side,” she said. “We have nothing to do with the U.S.”
Kim emphasized that personal relations between the leaders of North Korea and the United States “will not be reflected in the policy” and that “if the U.S. persists with the outdated way of thinking, the meeting between the top leaders will remain only the 'hope' of the U.S. side.”
“We are not at all interested in talks that are obsessed with the irreversible past," she said, "and there is no more need to explain the reason."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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