Seoul: South Korea has shut down its loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-North Korean propaganda along the heavily fortified inter-Korean border.
The move marks the first tangible step by President Lee Jae-myung’s new liberal government to reduce simmering tensions with Pyongyang.
The Defense Ministry confirmed that the psychological warfare campaign, which had resumed in June last year, was now suspended “to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
The loudspeakers, a remnant of Cold War-style tactics, had been blaring anti-regime messages and South Korean pop music toward North Korean border troops in response to Pyongyang’s unusual psychological warfare campaign.
From May to November 2023, North Korea sent thousands of balloons across the border carrying trash, cigarette butts, cloth scraps, and even manure.
Pyongyang framed the campaign as retaliation for South Korean activists launching leaflet-laden balloons critical of the North’s leadership, as well as USB drives containing South Korean dramas and K-pop music, content deemed subversive by the North.
North Korea has long bristled at any external criticism of its reclusive leadership, particularly its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un. The tit-for-tat balloon and speaker campaigns pushed inter-Korean relations to a new low, further strained by North Korea’s escalating nuclear weapons program and Seoul’s deepening military alliance with the United States and trilateral cooperation with Japan.
President Lee, who assumed office last week following a snap election triggered by the impeachment of conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, has pledged a return to engagement and diplomacy with the North.
