According to Yonhap News Agency on April 4th, the South Korean military began dismantling anti-North Korea loudspeakers located in frontline areas to ease tensions.
Reports indicate that the South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated on June 4th that this action is a substantive measure to ease inter-Korean tensions without compromising the state of readiness. The military will completely remove 20 fixed loudspeakers directed at North Korea within two or three days. The Korea Herald reported that the Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, Lee Kyung-ha, stated at a press conference on June 4th, “The removal is a follow-up measure to the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts in June.” Lee Kyung-ha stated that this latest action is the result of internal discussions within the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and was not pre-arranged with North Korea.
According to earlier reports by Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed the military on June 11 to suspend loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea. Presidential spokesperson Kang Eun-hye stated that this action demonstrates the government’s commitment to pursuing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, repairing South-North Korean relations and mutual trust. It is one of President Yoon’s measures to fulfill his campaign promises, and also a practical step to alleviate the suffering of border residents caused by the loudspeaker broadcasts.
This is not a reciprocal action, but a proactive measure that enhances South Korea’s image as a peace-loving nation. Yang Moo-jin (phonetic), a South Korean expert, told the Korea Herald on the 4th that this move may signal the beginning of efforts to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. Yonhap News Agency reported that in June last year, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration decided to restart broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages through loudspeakers along the border after a six-year hiatus, in response to North Korea’s release of propaganda leaflets. This marks the second suspension of broadcasts by the South Korean side within a year.
Regarding South Korea’s cessation of broadcasts toward the North, KCNA previously reported that on July 28, Kim Yo-jong, vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, issued a statement saying that the South Korean authorities’ description of the halt to psychological warfare broadcasts as a ’first step toward restoring inter-Korean trust’ is a self-inflicted problem. Regardless of how they handle it, it is their own affair and merely reverses something that should not have been done in the first place. In other words, it is not something worthy of comment.