The psychological warfare between North and South Korea has intensified, with the South’s military detecting signs that the North is installing its own loudspeakers along the heavily armed border. This development comes a day after the South resumed anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts for the first time in years, in retaliation for the North sending over 1,000 balloons filled with trash and manure across the border in recent weeks.

The tit-for-tat exchange of balloons and broadcasts has deepened tensions between the two Koreas, as talks over the North’s nuclear ambitions remain stalled. North Korea has described its balloon campaign as a response to South Korean civilian groups using balloons to fly anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets, which Pyongyang considers a threat to leader Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule.

In response to the South’s loudspeaker broadcasts, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned of a “new response” from the North if the South continues with the broadcasts and fails to stop civilian activists from flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson, Lee Sung Joon, stated that while Kim’s comments represent a heightened verbal threat, the South is conducting broadcasts in sites where soldiers have sufficient protection and are equipped to swiftly hit back if attacked.

As the psychological warfare escalates, U.S. and South Korean officials have been reviewing their nuclear deterrence strategies to counter growing North Korean threats during their latest nuclear planning talks in Seoul.