SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military has shut down loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda along the inter-Korean border, marking the new liberal government’s first concrete step toward easing tensions between the war-divided rivals.
The South resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year following a yearslong pause in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South in a psychological warfare campaign.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday the move was part of efforts to “to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
From May to November last year, North Korea flew thousands of balloons toward South Korea to drop substances such as wastepaper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts and even manure. The North said its balloon campaign came after South Korean activists sent over balloons filled with anti-North Korean leaflets, as well as USB sticks filled with popular South Korean songs and dramas.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un.
South Korea, in response to the North Korean balloons, reactivated its front-line loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages and K-pop songs toward the North.
The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns added to tensions fueled by North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and strengthen three-way security cooperation with Japan.
South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae-myung, who took office last week after winning a snap election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon’s hardline policies and shunned dialogue.
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