South Korea halts loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts against North

SEOUL: South Korea on Wednesday halted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the nuclear-armed North, the defence ministry said, adding it was a bid to “restore trust” under Seoul´s new administration.

The decision to suspend the broadcasts was “to make good on a promise to restore trust in South-North Korea relations and seek peace on the Korean peninsula”, the defence ministry said in a brief statement.

A ministry spokesperson told AFP the broadcasts were halted on Wednesday afternoon. Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated under the hardline administration of hawkish ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol.

But Yoon was impeached and stripped of office earlier this year over an abortive martial law declaration. After winning last week´s snap poll, Seoul´s new President Lee Jae-myung pledged to improve ties with Pyongyang.

The loudspeakers were turned on in the demilitarised zone that divides the two Koreas in June last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang.

The North claimed the balloons were a response to activists floating similar missives filled with anti-Kim Jong Un propaganda and US dollar bills northwards. The two Koreas technically remain at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The anti-North Korea broadcasts infuriate Pyongyang, which has previously threatened artillery strikes against Seoul´s loudspeaker units.