N Korea ramps up conflict with noise campaign

Gunshots, screams, eerie laughter - South Korea's border island Ganghwa is being bombarded nightly with blood-curdling sounds, part of a new campaign by the nuclear-armed North that is driving residents to despair.

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Before it started, 56-year-old Kim Yun-suk fell asleep to the hum of insects and woke to the chirping of birds. Now, she is kept awake every night by what sounds like the soundtrack of a low-budget horror movie at top volume.

"The peaceful sounds of nature... have now been drowned out," Kim said. "All we hear is this noise."

The noise campaign is the latest manifestation of steadily declining ties between the two Koreas this year, which have also seen Pyongyang test ever more powerful missiles and bombard the South with trash-carrying balloons.

Since July, North Korea has been broadcasting the noises every day from loudspeakers along the border.