South Korea begins dismantling loudspeakers along the border with North Korea

Seoul, Aug 4 The South Korean military on Monday started removing loudspeakers for propaganda broadcasts toward North Korea installed along the heavily fortified border, the defence ministry said, in Seoul's latest efforts to reduce inter-Korean tensions.

The move comes less than two months after the South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts in front-line areas as part of efforts to mend strained ties with the North.

Pyongyang has also since turned off its own noise-blaring campaign against the South, Yonhap news agency reported.

"It is a practical measure that can help ease inter-Korean tensions without affecting the military's readiness posture," the ministry said in a notice to reporters.

The follow-up measure to the June suspension applies to fixed speakers installed alongside the border and is set to be completed within this week, Col. Lee Kyung-ho, a ministry spokesperson, told a regular press briefing. About 20 fixed speakers are known to be in the area.

No consultations with the North took place prior to the decision, Lee said.

When asked about whether the North is preparing to take corresponding action, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said no such movement has yet to be detected.

"North Korea appears to be carrying out maintenance work on its loudspeakers, but there were no signs of dismantling them. ... No unusual movement by the North Korean military has been detected so far," JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said.

North Korea has long bristled against the military's loudspeaker broadcasts and leaflets sent by activists over fears of outside information that could pose a threat to its ruling regime, Yonhap news agency reported.

But under the former conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, South Korea turned on the loudspeaker campaign for the first time in six years in June last year as Pyongyang launched thousands of trash-carrying balloons across the border. Seoul had previously conducted the campaign on an on-and-off basis following North Korea's fourth nuclear test in 2016.

Since taking office in June, Lee has taken measures to revive inter-Korean ties that remain practically severed since the North declared in late 2023 that the two Koreas are two separate "hostile" countries and moved to dismantle symbols of inter-Korean relations and unification.

In addition to halting the military's loudspeaker broadcasts, Lee has called on civic groups to suspend their distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets, expressing hope that the reconciliatory gestures could pave the way for engagement with the North.

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