This is a military installation in June last year with loudspeakers blaring messages to North Korea near the inter-Korean border in Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province. President Lee Jae-myung on June 11 this year ordered that such loudspeakers be silenced. (Yonhap News)

By Kang Gahui

President Lee Jae-myung has taken the first step toward improving strained inter-Korean ties by ordering a halt to loudspeaker broadcasts around the border following an official request to stop the scattering of leaflets to North Korea.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said the president on June 11 ordered military authorities to stop such broadcasts at outposts along the inter-Korean border.

"The latest measure was taken under the government's intent to recover trust in inter-Korean ties and set peace on the Korean Peninsula," she told a news briefing at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District. "This practical measure seeks to reduce the pain experienced in border areas suffering from the North's noise broadcasts."

The Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff said loudspeakers installed on the front lines were silenced on June 11 at 2 p.m.

A ministry official added, "This is part of efforts to restore trust in inter-Korean ties and implement a pledge to the nation to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula."

Earlier on June 9, the Ministry of Unification expressed concern over a civic group's sending of leaflets on seven people believed to have been abducted by the North, urging that it stop.

Ministry spokesperson Koo Byoungsam on June 9 told a news briefing, "The Unification Ministry expresses regret over the Abductees' Family Union's decision to disseminate leaflets toward the North on June 2. Despite the Ministry's request for restraint, the union has conducted a third leaflet launch toward the North, following earlier cases on April 27 and May 8."

"The dissemination of leaflets toward the North risks escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and jeopardizing the lives and safety of border area residents. The Ministry sternly calls for the suspension of such actions."

This action corresponds to President Lee's pledges during his election campaign to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, halt the dissemination of leaflets to the North, balloons containing waste from the North, stop loudspeaker broadcasts from both sides, and promote bilateral humanitarian cooperation through resumption of the reunions of separated families.

The North was also confirmed to have stopped its propaganda broadcasts after the South did so earlier, a possible sign of both sides acting to ease tension.

kgh89@korea.kr