S-Korea mutes loudspeakers in signal toward North

2025-06-12 06:35:58

(MENAFN) South Korea's new President, Lee Jae-myung, has ordered the suspension of anti-North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts along the border in a bid to reduce tensions and rebuild trust with Pyongyang.

The move, announced Wednesday by presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, is intended to demonstrate Seoul’s renewed commitment to improving inter-Korean relations and fostering peace on the peninsula. It also aims to lessen military friction and alleviate the noise burden on nearby residents.

The loudspeaker broadcasts, which included South Korean news and K-pop music, had been resumed last June in response to North Korea’s trash- and excrement-filled balloon launches. These were retaliation for anti-regime leaflets sent by South Korean activists into the North.

President Lee, who won a snap election last week after the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, has promised to end both the broadcasts and leaflet campaigns. Yoon was removed from office after briefly declaring martial law, alleging a pro-North rebellion within the opposition.

Tensions between the Koreas have been exacerbated by continued joint military drills between South Korea and the US, which Pyongyang views as preparations for invasion. Though active hostilities ended in 1953, the two Koreas remain technically at war.

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