South Korean military suspends loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea, Asia News
SEOUL — South Korea's military said on Wednesday (June 11) it had suspended loudspeaker broadcasts near the border targeting North Korea, nearly a year after resuming the propaganda and K-pop blasts during a time of growing tension with its neighbour.
The step makes good on a promise by President Lee Jae-myung, who took office this month vowing to resume dialogue with the North, suspend the loudspeaker broadcasts and restore a suspended military pact with Pyongyang.
In a statement, a defence ministry official said the move aims to "fulfil the pledge to the public of restoring trust in inter-Korean relations and peace on the Korean peninsula."
Earlier, the Yonhap news agency quoted a military official as saying, "Loudspeaker broadcasts were suspended following the order of higher-ups."
Seoul's resumption of its round-the-clock campaign of loudspeaker broadcasts last July was in response to Pyongyang's launch of balloons carrying trash over the border, the South's military said then.
Pyongyang had said the balloons were retaliation for a propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in the South who regularly send inflatables with anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other items across the border.
After taking the oath of office, Lee said the best security was peace with no need to fight, referring to South Korea's often violent ties with its rival and neighbour.
[[nid:716536]]
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
U.S. ambassador to Russia to leave post soon, says embassy
U.S. ambassador to Russia to leave post soon, says embassy MOSCOW - Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, will soon leave her post, her embassy said on Thursday, after serving through one of the most tense and difficult periods in relations between Moscow and Washington. Tracy, a career diplomat, arrived in Moscow in January 2023 and was greeted by protesters chanting anti-U.S. slogans when she went to the Foreign Ministry to present her credentials. Russia had questioned her suitability for the post, suggesting she might feel more at home in a hawkish think-tank. Her term was dominated by the Ukraine war, which plunged U.S.-Russia ties to a level described by the Kremlin last year as "below zero". She was notably involved in efforts to win the release of U.S. citizens jailed in Russia including journalist Evan Gershkovich and former marine Paul Whelan, who were eventually freed in August 2024 as part of a big East-West prisoner swap. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, Russia and the U.S. have launched a series of contacts aimed at improving relations. Russia's new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, formally presented his credentials to Trump on Wednesday. Both sides say there is huge potential for business and investment deals if relations improve, though Trump has voiced frustration about Russia's war actions in Ukraine and the lack of any visible progress towards a peace deal. Tracy's tenure is likely to be similar in duration to her predecessor, John Sullivan, who served as ambassador for two years and seven months from February 2020 to September 2022. Reuters could not immediately reach the U.S. embassy in Moscow for additional comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
South Koreans flock to Blue House ahead of presidential return
The building is named for the approximately 150,000 hand-painted blue tiles that adorn its roof. Once occupied by former colonial power Japan, the site has housed South Korea's leaders for seven decades. On the campaign trail, Lee vowed to return. "It is traditional, symbolic and optimal," he told local media. QUEUES Official figures show visitors to the Blue House surged ahead of the June 3 snap election: around 427,000 in May - double the number from the same month last year. In all, more than 7.8 million people - including 800,000 foreigners - have visited since the site's May 2022 public opening. "I have come here with my kids for educational purposes, as it might be difficult for us to visit again," said Son Young-ah, 49. One woman, upon leaving the main gate muttered: "With this exit, I may never be able to set foot here again." In early 2018, during a period of warmer ties, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister visited the Blue House - the first by the isolated country's ruling Kim family. "I look forward to seeing Pyongyang and Seoul come closer in the minds of Korean people," Kim Yo Jong wrote in the visitors' book. "BIT OF RENOVATION" The Blue House has long been the subject of public fascination, fuelled in part by a series of misfortunes that have befallen past inhabitants, including assassinations, impeachments, corruption trials and imprisonments. Yoon's relocation may have been in part an effort to escape such a fate - which some believe is linked to the feng shui of the site. But the change in premises failed to spare his presidency: he was impeached in April after his brief martial law declaration and now faces a criminal trial. Yoon's replacement had little interest in continuing to occupy the former Defence Ministry in central Seoul. The ministry is plagued by "security issues such as wiretapping" and lacks the privacy and seclusion of the Blue House, Lee has said. Not all sections of the storied compound - including its administrative offices and an underground bunker - have been opened to tourists. As such, the site "would only require a bit of renovation to reopen", Choi Gi-il, a former presidential security aid, told AFP. He added that the main blue-tiled building was primarily for ceremonial purposes and hosting foreign dignitaries, making it less vulnerable to security breaches. No date has been announced for the return to Blue House, but visitors to the site felt it was imminent. "I held off coming here because I thought I could come here anytime," Kim Jong-chun, 71, told AFP. But he realised it was now or never after Lee's election.
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
United Nations to vote to demand immediate Gaza ceasefire over US, Israel opposition
FILE PHOTO: Military vehicles manoeuvre in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo United Nations to vote to demand immediate Gaza ceasefire over US, Israel opposition UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a draft resolution that demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza after the United States vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council last week. The 193-member General Assembly is likely to adopt the text with overwhelming support, diplomats say, despite Israel lobbying countries this week against taking part in what it called a "politically-motivated, counter-productive charade." General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Previous demands by the body for an end to the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been ignored. Unlike the U.N. Security Council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly. Thursday's vote also comes ahead of a U.N. conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States has urged countries not to attend. In a note seen by Reuters, the U.S. warned that "countries that take anti-Israel actions on the heels of the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to U.S. foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences." The U.S. last week vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that also demanded an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" and unhindered aid access in Gaza, arguing it would undermine U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. The other 14 countries on the council voted in favor of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where the U.N. warns famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month. 'FALSE AND DEFAMATORY' The draft resolution to be voted on by the General Assembly on Thursday demands the release of hostages held by Hamas, the return of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. It demands unhindered aid access and "strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians ... of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supply and access." "This is both false and defamatory," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon wrote in a letter to U.N. member states, sent on Tuesday and seen by Reuters. Danon described the General Assembly draft resolution as an "immensely flawed and harmful text," urging countries not to take part in what he said was a "farce" that undermines hostage negotiations and fails to condemn Hamas. In October 2023 the General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December 2023, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Then in December last year the body demanded - with 158 votes in favor - an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
