Seoul removes propaganda speakers

South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers used for anti-Pyongyang broadcasts at the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, after the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to cease hostilities toward each other in the Panmunjeom Declaration signed Friday. / Joint press corps

By Choi Ha-young

Seoul's Ministry of National Defense removed propaganda loudspeakers near the military demarcation line (MDL), Tuesday, in fulfillment of a part of the Panmunjeom Declaration signed by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The ministry began the dismantling at 2 p.m.; and it took about an hour for around 30 people from the military and a speaker manufacturer to remove one speaker. The work in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, was covered by the media. The ministry did not say how long it would take to completely remove the dozens of speakers along the border

The move follows an agreement in the declaration announced Friday, in which the two Koreas agreed to cease all hostile acts against each other and eliminate any means of activities considered hostile in the areas along the MDL starting May 1, with a goal to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a real peace zone.

Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said the ministry would exchange the list of dismantled facilities with the North as proof, if needed.

South Korea has run about 40 stationary and mobile speakers. The broadcasts were aimed at sending outside information, including K-pop songs as well as weather forecasts and lifestyle information, into the reclusive country.

The North has operated about 50 stationary ones. As Seoul moved to remove the speakers, it seemed Pyongyang was also working on removing its own, a military official said.

The anti-Pyongyang broadcasts, which began in 1963, had shared its fate with the fluctuations of inter-Korean relations.

The loudspeakers were removed in 2004 under then-President Roh Moo-hyun amid a reconciliatory mood. But they were redeployed in August 2015 under Moon's predecessor, Park Geun-hye, in retaliation for a landmine explosion incident allegedly committed by North Koreans.

Right after the installation, the North even fired artillery shells at the propaganda facilities, which brought counterattacks from the South. Following a dramatic inter-Korean agreement on Aug. 25, 2015, Seoul decided to halt the broadcasts but resumed the programs on Jan. 6, 2016, in protest of the North's fourth nuclear test.

This year, the speakers on both sides have been silent since April 23, four days before the inter-Korean summit, as the defense ministry decided to suspend the propaganda broadcasts in hopes of boosting the peace overtures, and the North did the same.

With the momentum of the Moon-Kim summit, the two Koreas are expected to take further steps to ease tensions through high-level military talks this month. “The defense ministry is preparing for the talks,” the ministry spokeswoman said, without elaborating on further details.

To halt hostilities, the two leaders also agreed on ceasing not only the propaganda broadcasting but also South Korean civic groups' sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets through balloons.

The Ministry of Unification requested civic groups halt their leaflet campaign, but the groups are protesting, saying it violates their freedom of expression.

According to the promises between the two leaders, the Koreas may also agree to withdraw heavy weaponry from the DMZ and reach a deal over the West Sea, a region that has seen frequent accidental clashes.