South Korea turns off cross-border speakers after peace deal

Seoul: South Korea says it has turned off loudspeakers broadcasting cross-border anti-Pyongyang propaganda as part of an accord with rival North Korea meant to avert possible military confrontation. [caption id=“attachment_2405288” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of South Korean soldiers taking down a battery of propaganda loudspeakers on the border with North Korea in 2004. Getty Images[/caption] Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the broadcasts were stopped at noon local time. The ministry says the North is expected to now tell its soldiers to stand down from full war readiness. Seoul had restarted the broadcasts earlier this month after an 11-year stoppage in retaliation against the North for allegedly planting land mines that maimed two South Korean soldiers on border patrol. The North denied responsibility and had threatened to go to war if Seoul didn’t back down. In an accord settled after marathon negotiations, Pyongyang expressed “regret” over the injuries to the soldiers by the mines. AP