The two countries still share a common alphabet and a largely similar spoken language, though Western-influenced words now permeate the South Korean vocabulary. Information about the loudspeaker locations and their message contents aren’t generally discussed by the South Korean government. But the messages can be heard near Paju, a border village north of Seoul open to tourists — and across the border from North Korean artillery sites. Whether the high-decibel messages about Oh’s ordeal will have any practical effect on North Korea remains an open question. After a few weeks, South Korea agreed to switch them off, but resumed the program again following the September 2016 nuclear test.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 27, 2017 20:48 UTC