South Korea’s military says it has detected North Korea dismantling some of its loudspeakers along the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, in what could be an early sign of easing tensions.
The move comes days after Seoul began taking down its own front-line loudspeakers used for anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts.
Those broadcasts blaring, K-pop songs and political messages, were halted in June by newly elected liberal president Lee Jae Myung, in his government’s first tangible step toward repairing fractured relations.
In recent months, North Korean border speakers have blasted a barrage of irritating sounds, from howling animals to pounding gongs, in retaliation for Seoul’s campaigns.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not disclose where the North’s removals are taking place or confirm whether all units would be withdrawn.
Pyongyang has yet to publicly acknowledge the dismantling. The regime is highly sensitive to outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un and his family’s dynastic rule, and has previously reacted with hostility to such propaganda efforts.
The loudspeaker standoff flared last year under ousted conservative president Yoon Suk-yeol, when his government resumed broadcasts in response to North Korean balloon drops carrying rubbish into the South.
The tit-for-tat exchanges evoked Cold War–style psychological warfare and came against a backdrop of North Korea’s advancing nuclear programme and expanded US–South Korea–Japan security cooperation.
Although Lee’s administration has sought dialogue, Pyongyang’s response has been cool. Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s influential sister, dismissed overtures in July, criticising Seoul’s alliance with Washington. She also rebuffed US diplomatic overtures, signalling a pivot toward closer ties with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine.
Tensions may spike again later this month when South Korea and the US launch annual joint military drills on 18 August, exercises North Korea routinely labels as invasion rehearsals and uses to justify weapons tests.
