USA TODAY International Edition
K-pop, propaganda speakers removed from Korean border
Peace efforts begin after successful summit talks
“South and North Korea agreed to completely cease all the hostile acts against each other in every domain.”
Joint statement from South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un
The high-decibel speakers pointing into North Korea used by the South to blast K-pop music and otherwise sing the praises of democracy were being removed Tuesday as part of the political thaw underway between the two nations.
Also Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked the United Nations to monitor and verify North Korea’s pledge to shut down its nuclear test site this month.
The actions came just days after the historic summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“South and North Korea agreed to completely cease all the hostile acts against each other in every domain,” the leaders said in a joint statement Friday.
Both sides had called a halt to the high-decibel efforts across their border in advance of the summit.
They have also agreed to halt the practice of dropping propaganda leaflets across the border.
South Korea’s National Defense Ministry said the North also had begun removing its speakers aimed at the South. Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo called the effort a “rudimentary” first step that will help build trust between the two sides, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Choi would not confirm the number of loudspeakers in place along the border.
Local media have estimated that dozens of sets of speakers have blasted across the 150-mile border since early 2016, when the practice was reinstated following a flurry of missile and nuclear testing by Pyongyang.
In addition to propaganda, the South blared K-pop, its popular brand of youth pop music.
Kim has long banned the vast majority of the 25 million North Koreans from accessing any TV, radio and Internet originating outside his country.
Moon asked for help in verifying the dismantling of the test site where the secretive nation has detonated nuclear weapons in 2006, 2009, 2013, twice in 2016 and one more last year.
Moon spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for about 30 minutes by phone, Moon spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.
Guterres told Moon he would assign a disarmament official to the matter, Kim said.
Moon and Kim also agreed to work on a plan to formally end the Korean War that was ended under a temporary armistice in 1953.
North Korea’s Kim has said a formal end to the hostilities, along with a pledge from the U.S. not to attack his nation, would essentially eliminate Pyongyang’s need for a nuclear arsenal.