×

SKorea halts propaganda broadcasts before summit with North

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea halted anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the rivals’ tense border today days before their leaders are to sit down for talks expected to focus on the North’s nuclear program, Seoul officials said.

Seoul had blasted propaganda messages and K-pop songs from border loudspeakers since the North’s fourth nuclear test in early 2016.

Pyongyang quickly matched Seoul’s campaign with its own border broadcasts and launches of balloons carrying anti-South leaflets across the border.

South Korea, however, turned off its broadcasts to try to ease military tensions and establish an environment for peaceful talks, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said Seoul hopes its action would lead to both sides stopping mutual slander and propaganda activities. Yonhap news agency reported unspecified North Korean broadcasts were sporadically heard in the South this morning. South Korean defense officials said they couldn’t immediately confirm the status of the North’s broadcasts.

The move came amid a recent thaw of animosities, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un trying to reach out to Seoul and Washington in recent months after conducting his country’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test and three long-range missile test-launches last year.

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are to meet at a border village Friday in the rivals’ third-ever summit talks.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today