South Korea removes loudspeakers at border in bid to ease tensions with North Korea

South Korea has began dismantling loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean messages along the border on Monday, according to its defence ministry. The move is part of President Lee Jae Myung’s administration to reduce tensions with Pyongyang.

Lee's government, which took office in June, had already switched off the loudspeakers shortly after his inauguration in an effort to revive stalled talks with North Korea.

South Korea's move to remove the loudspeakers is a “practical measure to help ease tensions between the South and the North,” the ministry said in a statement.

However, North Korea recently rejected the overtures, saying it had no interest in engaging in dialogue with Seoul.

Both countries remain technically at war, with the 1950–53 Korean War ending in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. 

Relations have soured in recent years.

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