Unification minister says 'military should've been more careful' in loudspeaker scramble
Published: 18 Aug. 2025, 20:16
![Unification Minister Chung Dong-young takes off his glasses during a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Aug. 18. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/18/ed12ae35-2ffd-4ebe-b841-75297c2b3929.jpg)
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young takes off his glasses during a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Aug. 18. [NEWS1]
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Monday that confusion regarding whether North Korea has dismantled its propaganda loudspeakers along the border could have been avoided if South Korea’s military had exercised more caution in its statements.
“There is some truth to the view that the military should have been more careful,” Chung said during a National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee session in response to People Power Party Rep. Kim Ki-woong's questions.
But Chung stressed that both sides have stopped their broadcasts across the border, “allowing residents of the border areas to sleep peacefully.”
Chung's comments come after Seoul's removal of loudspeakers in early August in a bid to improve ties with Pyongyang.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Aug. 9 that the North had begun dismantling some of its loudspeakers. Days later, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, denied the claim, saying officials from the North had “never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them.”
![A North Korean loudspeaker is pictured at a military station near the inter-Korean border on Aug. 12. Pyongyang began dismantling the speakers on Aug. 9. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/18/6b301d3f-e87c-4ff2-994d-973074e5e393.jpg)
A North Korean loudspeaker is pictured at a military station near the inter-Korean border on Aug. 12. Pyongyang began dismantling the speakers on Aug. 9. [YONHAP]
Chung rejected opposition lawmakers’ demands for disciplinary action over the discrepancy, saying, “This is not a matter that calls for punishment.”
He also dismissed calls for an apology, adding, “What was said was that there were signs of dismantling and a hope that the dismantling would continue.”
He downplayed the debate over truthfulness, noting, “This is not about truth or lies. Loudspeakers are relics that belong in a museum.”
During the session, Democratic Party Rep. Kim Sang-wook asked how Seoul plans to pursue dialogue, given reports that the North’s United Front Department, which handled inter-Korean affairs, has been dissolved. Chung said the organization remains intact despite an official restructuring.
“I heard from a third-country visitor to Pyongyang that the United Front Department’s signboard was gone, but the office and staff were still there,” he said.
“When the right conditions for dialogue are created, I believe the South and North will sit down together as partners,” he said.
![Unification Minister Chung Dong-young delivers a report on the 2024 fiscal year during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in western Seoul on Aug. 18. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/18/ec9987ab-f108-4bba-8b58-ce5102dac16d.jpg)
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young delivers a report on the 2024 fiscal year during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in western Seoul on Aug. 18. [YONHAP]
North Korea announced in late 2023 that it was scrapping most of its inter-Korean agencies after Kim Jong-un declared his nation's ties with South Korea to be those of “two hostile states.”
The United Front Department has since been reorganized as the 10th Bureau of the North's ruling Workers' Party, according to the Ministry of Unification. Despite its lower nominal rank, officials in the South believe the bureau retains the same authority as its predecessor.
South Korean analysts say the bureau is known inside the North as the “Enemy State Guidance Bureau,” continuing its role as Pyongyang’s key channel for handling affairs with Seoul.
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.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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