ROK halts propaganda broadcasts ahead of inter-Korean summit

World
Europe

00:39

The Republic of Korea (ROK) announced Monday that it has stopped propaganda broadcasts over the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ahead of inter-Korean summit talks this week.

The ROK's Ministry of National Defense in a statement said it's expected to "reduce military tensions” and help to create "the mood of peaceful talks" on the peninsula.

It is the first time in more than two years that South’s broadcasts have been stopped.

This file photo shows the ROK soldiers dismantling loudspeakers from an observatory at the border with the DPRK on June 6, 2004. /VCG Photo

The move followed Pyongyang's recent peace gestures, including the weekend announcement of the decisions to shut down its nuclear test facilities and suspend nuclear tests and long-range missile launches.

Seoul began those broadcasts using high-decibel loudspeakers at the border in 1963, with the DPRK blaring its own propaganda messages across the border as well.

View at the border between the ROK and the DPRK. /VCG Photo

The two sides halted the broadcasts in 2015 in a deal at high-level talks with the DPRK, but Seoul resumed the loudspeaker campaign in 2016 in response to Pyongyang's nuclear test.

(With input from Yonhap News Agency)