South Korea's loudspeakers face questions over reach into North

SEOUL - The loudspeakers deployed by South Korea to wage psychological warfare against North Korea faced audits and legal battles claiming they are too quiet, raising questions over how far into the reclusive North their propaganda messages can blast.

South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts directed at North Korea on June 9 for the first time since a now-defunct inter-Korean agreement banned them in 2018.

The current speakers were among 40 systems purchased in 2016 after the two Koreas exchanged artillery fire in a 2015 dispute over the broadcasts.

The military says the systems were designed to blare pop music and political messages as far as 10km, enough to reach the city of Kaesong and its nearly 200,000 residents.

But audits released at the time, seen by Reuters, showed the new speakers did not meet those standards and were not as powerful as the military called for.

According to former navy officer Kim Young-su, although the speakers passed two out three initial tests in 2016, the trials took place in the morning or at night, when sound travels furthest.

South Korea rarely operates the speakers during those times now, so as not to disturb nearby South Korean residents as much, said Kim, who investigated and raised the issues to government corruption watchdogs and the police.

The issues led the Ministry of National Defence to sue the manufacturer, but a court dismissed the case, saying that too many environmental factors can affect the performance.

Tests in 2017 showed that messages or songs from the speakers could not be understood further than 7km, and more often closer to 5km, according to the audit and Kim, not enough to reach a city such as Kaesong.

The ministry told Reuters in a statement that performance may