Seoul reports North Korea dismantling propaganda speakers at DMZ

North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier.

The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarised zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of President Lee Jae Myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

South Korea’s defence ministry on Monday said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease tensions with the North”.

South Korea had been blaring K-pop and news reports to the North in response to Pyongyang transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean locals.

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But under Lee’s administration, in June, Seoul halted the loudspeaker broadcasts and in turn, a day later, North Korea stopped their broadcasts as well.

“The South Korean military has detected North Korean troops dismantling propaganda loudspeakers in some parts along the front line from this morning,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday in a statement.

“It remains to be confirmed whether the devices have been removed across all regions, and the military will continue to monitor related activities,” they added.

Seoul had begun the loudspeaker broadcasts last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown south by Pyongyang.

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The North had sent thousands of the balloons southwards at that time, saying they were retaliation for propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists.

Relations between the two Koreas had been at one of their lowest points in years, under the South’s then-president Yoon Suk Yeol, with Seoul taking a hard line towards Pyongyang, which has drawn ever closer to Moscow in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lee has taken a different approach in dealing with the North since his June election, including requesting civic groups to stop sending anti-North propaganda leaflets.

Lee has also said he would seek talks with the North without preconditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor.

The two countries technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.