N.Korea Threatens to Shoot Down Loudspeakers

North Korea on Saturday threatened to shoot down South Korean loudspeakers that have resumed blasting propaganda across the demilitarized zone.

The North Korean Army's frontline command in an "open warning" threatened to "take wholesale military action to pulverize all psychological warfare means along the entire frontline."

The loudspeaker campaign was restarted after two young South Korean conscripts were maimed by box mines planted by the North in the DMZ on Aug. 4.

"The resumption of the propaganda loudspeaker campaign is a direct provocation of war against us," the official [North] Korean Central News Agency quoted the frontline command as saying. "Never forget that military action will be an indiscriminate strike that takes possible challenge and escalation into consideration."

The North Korean National Defense Commission also demanded that South Korea and the U.S. stop upcoming military drills.

The annual drills are mostly focused on computer simulations and involve 30,000 U.S. troops, including 3,000 reinforcement personnel from overseas, and some 50,000 South Korean troops.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee called an urgent video conference with field commanders right after the North issued the threat. He ordered them to "respond to a provocation from the North strongly and resolutely."

"We're watching North Korean army movements closely because there's a high chance of a provocation," a military spokesman said.

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