Sawt Falasteen - S. Korea halts loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts against North

The decision to suspend the broadcasts was "to make good on a promise to restore trust in South-North Korea relations and seek peace on the Korean peninsula", the defence ministry said in a brief statement.

A ministry spokesperson told AFP the broadcasts were halted Wednesday afternoon.

Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated under the hardline administration of hawkish ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol.

But Yoon was impeached and stripped of office earlier this year over an abortive martial law declaration. After winning last week's snap poll, Seoul's new President Lee Jae-myung pledged to improve ties with Pyongyang.

The loudspeakers were turned on in the demilitarised zone that divides the two Koreas in June last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang.

The North claimed the balloons were a response to activists floating similar missives filled with anti-Kim Jong Un propaganda and US dollar bills northwards.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The anti-North Korea broadcasts infuriate Pyongyang, which has previously threatened artillery strikes against Seoul's loudspeaker units.

South Korea's resumption of its broadcasts last year was the first time the tactic had been used in six years.

They typically consist of blaring K-pop songs and news reports into the North.

- North Korea response? -

In response, North Korea turned on its own propaganda broadcasts, sending strange and unsettling noises into the South at all hours, prompting complaints from border residents.

On Ganghwa island, which is very close to the North, villager Ahn Hyo-cheol told AFP that the North Korean noises had "not subsided at all" by Wednesday afternoon.

"While I don't have high hopes for how North Korea might change, I think the government's decision to halt loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North is the right move," he said.

Ganghwa county councillor Park Heung-yeol told AFP the move by Seoul was "long overdue".

"Halting the loudspeaker broadcasts should not be the end -- we must also work to restore inter-Korean communication channels and initiate dialogue to stop the North’s broadcasts targeting the South," Park added.

Lee, who took office the day after last week's election, has vowed to improve ties with the North through dialogue.

"No matter how costly, peace is better than war," he said after he was elected.

North Korea has not commented on Lee's election except for a brief news report informing its public of his win.

Lee comes to power with his party already holding a parliamentary majority -- secure for the next three years -- meaning he is likely to be able to get his legislative agenda done.

The halt to loudspeaker broadcasts "is a clear signal from Lee that he intends to deliver on his campaign promise to improve ties with the North and that he has no hostile intent toward it," said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"We can expect Lee to take further steps to further this stance, such as attempting to revive a military agreement with the North that was scrapped last year," Hong said.

"The North could reciprocate by halting its own noise campaign targeting South Koreans living on border-area islands."

D.AbuRida--SF-PST