ROK turns off loudspeakers facing DPRK

Seoul-Washington joint war games likely to be halted on day of summit

The Republic of Korea’s military has stopped blaring loudspeaker broadcasts against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the border area on Monday to create a peaceful mood ahead of the inter-Korean summit later this week, according to the ROK Defense Ministry.

“We hope this decision will lead both countries to stop mutual criticism and propaganda against each other and also contribute in creating peace and a new beginning,” the ministry said.

It is the first time in more than two years the ROK broadcasts, which include a mixture of news, pop music and criticism of the DPRK government, have been halted.

The peace gesture came ahead of the summit between ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un on Friday at the border village of Panmunjom.

The two neighbors also reached an agreement on protocol, security and media coverage for the summit, the ROK’s presidential office said on Monday.

Kim will step into ROK territory for the first time as leader for Friday’s meeting. Previous meetings between the two neighbors were in Pyongyang, in 2000 and 2007.

In the vicinity of the village, called Joint Security Area, the ROK military had operated loudspeakers to criticize the DPRK government.

Seoul resumed the psychological warfare of anti-Pyongyang broadcasts in January 2016 in response to Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test before stopping it early on Monday.

The two neighbors remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty, with tens of thousands of soldiers guarding the mine-infested land border.

Relations have improved markedly in recent months, driven by the Winter Olympics in the ROK.

The joint annual ROK-US war games, which kicked off on April 1, are highly likely to halt on the day of the summit, Yonhap news agency reported.

The two-week-long Key Resolve command post exercise started early on Monday as scheduled, but the first part of it will probably be suspended for the Moon-Kim summit day and resume from next week, according to the report.

‘Significant decision’

The reconciliatory gestures came in response to the DPRK leader’s decision to discontinue nuclear and missile tests, shut down its main nuclear testing facility and pursue economic growth and peace.

The decision was announced at the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Friday.

Moon was upbeat about Kim’s latest move, saying on Monday in a meeting with aides that Pyongyang’s announcement was “a significant decision toward total denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and “raises hopes that the pace will accelerate”.

Pyongyang’s statement was also welcomed by US President Donald Trump, who is expected to hold a summit of his own with Kim soon.

But he also sounded a more cautious note on Sunday.

“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea (the DPRK), maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t — only time will tell,” Trump said on Twitter.

Xinhua, AP, Reuters and AFP contributed to this story.