South Korea suspends anti-North Korea radio broadcasts

SEOUL (Reuters) : South Korea has suspended a military radio broadcast that transmits to North Korea as part of measures aimed at easing tensions with Pyongyang, Seoul’s defence ministry said on Monday.

It is the first time that South Korea has stopped the radio broadcast in 15 years since they resumed after North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean warship, according to media reports.

The radio broadcast, called “Voice of Freedom”, carries items such as news on the North’s regime, South Korean economic development or K-pop culture. It has been used as one of South Korea’s tools for psychological warfare against the North.

“The Ministry of National Defence has suspended broadcasts of Voice of Freedom as part of measures to ease military tensions between the South and North,” Lee Kyung-ho, deputy spokesperson at the ministry, told a press briefing.

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

Shortly after he took office in June, the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung switched off propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts on the border criticising the North’s regime as it looks to revive stalled dialogue with its neighbour.

Lee has vowed to take further steps to dial down tensions with North Korea and proposed a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to build peace.

But so far North Korea has rebuffed Lee’s overtures and said it is not interested in dialogue with South Korea.

The North Korean leader plans to visit China this week, its major ally and economic lifeline, to attend a military parade, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.