South Korea began dismantling its loudspeakers near the border used for anti-Pyongyang propaganda in a "practical step" to ease tensions with North Korea, Seoul's Defense Ministry said Monday.
“The removal is a follow-up measure to the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts in June,” said Col. Lee Kyung-ho, vice spokesperson of the Defense Ministry, during a press briefing. “It is being carried out within a scope that does not affect our military's readiness.”
The ministry's vice spokesperson added that the latest move was a result of discussions within President Lee Jae Myung's administration and was not pre-negotiated with North Korea.
On June 11, the president ordered the broadcasts to be halted — a week after his inauguration on June 4 — in an effort to thaw inter-Korean relations. He also cited stress caused to residents near the border as an additional reason to stop the broadcasts. North Korea ceased its broadcasts towards the South the following day.
Seoul has dismantled and reinstalled loudspeakers near the border depending on inter-Korean relations since the 1960s.
The most recent suspension occurred under the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration during the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. The system was reactivated in June 2024 under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration in response to North Korea’s launch of waste-carrying balloons over the border.
All fixed loudspeakers are expected to be removed within a few days, according to the ministry. Mobile and vehicle-mounted units were withdrawn following the June 11 order.
A Seoul-based expert projected the decision to be effective in reducing border tensions.
“This is not a reciprocal move, but a preemptive action that enhances South Korea’s image as a peace-loving nation,” said Yang Moo-jin, president and professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
He added that the move could mark the beginning of efforts to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. The accord was nullified after North Korea unilaterally withdrew from it in November 2023. South Korea later suspended the deal in June 2024 in response to North Korea’s launch of trash-filled balloons across the border.
Yang also stressed the importance of reviewing the scale and nature of joint South Korea-US military drills going forward.
“Military training is natural for any nation with armed forces. However, for progress toward a peace-based economic model on the Korean Peninsula, we must limit operations to defensive drills and halt retaliatory or large-scale punitive responses,” he said.
North Korea has yet to take corresponding steps.
“We’ve observed signs of maintenance work on some of their loudspeakers, but not removal,” said Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun during Monday’s briefing.
He noted that North Korea is believed to operate slightly more loudspeakers than South Korea, which reportedly had about 20 in use before June.
Meanwhile, Seoul's Defense Ministry confirmed that annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills with the United States will proceed as scheduled in mid-August.
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com
