North Korea’s ‘noise bombing’ is making life miserable for this village in South

Residents of Dangsan village of South Korea are bearing the brunt of their country’s hostilities with North Korea.

Pyongyang has deployed a new method of psychological warfare to get even with Seoul: loudspeakers. According to a New York Times report, North Korea has amped up loudspeakers along its border with South Korea with eerie noises blaring from it.

The noises like that of a giant gong beaten again, wolves howling, metal grinding together or ghosts screaming have made lives miserable for the villagers. A 37-year-old resident named An Mi-hee told NYT, “It is driving us crazy. You can’t sleep at night.”

Both the Koreas have not signed a peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean war. North Korean ruler Kim Jongh Un has adopted a more hawkish stance over the years, closing all dialogue with Seoul and United States, and doubling down on testing nuclear-capable missiles.

On the contrary South Korea’s Soon Yuk Yeol has called for “spreading the idea of freedom” to the North to penetrate the information blackout

The Dangsan village has a population of 354 and most of the residents are aged 60 and more. “It’s bombing without shells. The worst part is that we don’t know when it will end, whether it will ever end,” An told NYT.

Another villager named An Seon-hoe said he wished North Korea would just broadcast their “old insults” and “propaganda songs”.

North Korea has been bombarding Dangsan residents with nonstop noises which the villagers call them as irritating and stressful. They have blamed the noises for insomnia, headaches, and even goats miscarrying.

Windows shut to minimise noise
According to the NYT report, villagers are now keeping their windows shut to minimise the noise from North Korea. Some of them have installed Styrofoam over them for extra insulation. Children avoid playing on outdoor trampolines because of the noise.

The politicians have visited the border village to offer their sympathies.

“The solution is for the two Koreas to recommit themselves to their old agreements not to slander each other,” Koh, of the Korea Institute told NYT.

Last month, North Korea demolished all railway and road links between the two Koreas with dynamite. This month, it disrupted GPS signals near the western border with the South, the report added.