South Korea begins dismantling border loudspeakers to ease tensions with the North
'The removal is a follow-up measure to the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts in June,' said Col. Lee Kyung-ho, vice spokesperson of the Defense Ministry, during a press briefing. 'It is being carried out within a scope that does not affect our military's readiness.'
The ministry's vice spokesperson added that the latest move was a result of discussions within the Lee Jae Myung administration and was not pre-negotiated with North Korea.
Seoul has dismantled and reinstalled loudspeakers near the border repeatedly since the 1960s, depending on the status of inter-Korean relations.
The most recent suspension occurred under the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration during the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. The system was reactivated in June 2024 under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration in response to North Korea's launch of waste-carrying balloons over the border.
President Lee Jae Myung, who took office on June 4, ordered broadcasts to be halted on June 11 in an effort to thaw inter-Korean relations. He also cited stress caused to residents near the border as an additional reason to stop the broadcasts. North Korea ceased its own broadcasts towards the South the following day.
All fixed loudspeakers are expected to be removed within a few days, according to the ministry. Mobile and vehicle-mounted units were withdrawn following the June 11 suspension.
A Seoul-based expert projected the decision to be effective in reducing border tensions.
'This is not a reciprocal move, but a preemptive action that enhances South Korea's image as a peace-loving nation,' said Yang Moo-jin, president and professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
He added that the move could mark the beginning of efforts to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement. The accord was nullified after North Korea unilaterally withdrew from it in November 2023. South Korea later suspended the deal in June 2024 in response to North Korea's launch of trash-filled balloons across the border.
Yang also stressed the importance of reviewing the scale and nature of joint South Korea-US military drills going forward.
'Military training is natural for any nation with armed forces. However, for progress toward a peace-based economic model on the Korean Peninsula, we must limit operations to defensive drills and halt retaliatory or large-scale punitive responses,' he said.
North Korea has yet to take corresponding steps.
'We've observed signs of maintenance work on some of their loudspeakers, but not removal,' said Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun during Monday's briefing.
He noted that North Korea is believed to operate slightly more loudspeakers than South Korea, which reportedly had about 20 in use before June.
Meanwhile, Seoul's Defense Ministry confirmed that annual joint military drills with the United States will proceed as scheduled in mid-August.
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Korea Herald
5 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Wang Son-taek] Key points for a successful S. Korea-US summit
The upcoming South Korea-US summit scheduled for this month is poised to become a landmark diplomatic event in the history of the alliance — regardless of its outcome. Under President Donald Trump's renewed leadership, the United States is aggressively redrawing the international order. The administration's approach has discarded traditional norms of multilateral cooperation in favor of a transactional, unilateral model. At the heart of this shift is an escalating tariff war. South Korea has also felt the impact. In late July, Seoul and Washington reached a surprising and lopsided agreement: despite the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, which originally guaranteed tariff-free trade, Korea will now face a 15 percent tariff on exports to the US. This concession was made to reduce Trump's initial demand of a 25 percent tariff. In exchange, Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States and to import $100 billion worth of US energy products. These numbers are staggering. Unsurprisingly, this has shaken confidence in the alliance. Within South Korea, growing embarrassment and frustration have raised questions over whether the alliance is still grounded in mutual respect — or if it has devolved into an asymmetric arrangement driven solely by US pressure. In this context, the upcoming summit between President Lee Jae Myung and President Trump carries immense importance. Ideally, the two leaders would agree on ways to enhance the alliance and reduce uncertainty. But optimism must be tempered. Trump is a notoriously unpredictable figure. Since beginning his second term in January, he has grown even more inflexible in his positions. For many global leaders, meeting with Trump has become a nerve-wracking ordeal. In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy experienced a disastrous summit in Washington. During a 40-minute meeting, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance openly cornered Zelenskyy, accusing him of recklessness and dismissing his diplomatic appeals. In May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was subjected to a bizarre ambush at the White House. Trump unexpectedly raised unfounded claims about 'white genocide' in South Africa and used misleading footage to pressure Ramaphosa in front of the press. Diplomacy is built on mutual respect and reliable communications. Yet Trump's actions suggest a deliberate strategy of shaming foreign leaders to achieve domestic political gains. While history offers many examples of powerful states bullying weaker ones, Trump's overt and often theatrical humiliations of heads of state are without modern precedent. There is no guarantee that President Lee Jae Myung will be treated differently. Hoping for a summit that yields a comprehensive agreement may be overly ambitious. A successful summit may simply mean that the alliance remains intact and that relations between the two leaders do not fray. To achieve even this limited success, the South Korean government must be thoroughly prepared. First, anticipate Trump's theatricality. Trump has shown a pattern of using summits for spectacle. Some incidents, like the Ramaphosa ambush, were clearly premeditated. To avoid confrontation, South Korea should convey to the White House that there is no reason for hostility between the two sides. Second, while Trump has frequently harassed foreign leaders perceived as weak, he tends to respect strong leaders. He has openly expressed admiration for authoritarian figures like Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. This is not because of ideology, but because he associates strength with authority. President Lee should project confidence and national support — not arrogance, but firm resolve. Any perception that President Lee is weak could prompt Trump to treat him as prey, rather than a peer. Third, remember that Trump is not persuaded by logic — he is influenced by emotion. Many European leaders have learned that flattery often works where facts do not. While sycophancy is distasteful, directly contradicting Trump in public or humiliating him at the negotiating table is unwise. Managing his ego is not appeasement — it is strategic calibration. If a deal is reached, framing it as a product of Trump's leadership will likely help sustain momentum. In fact, this approach should apply in all diplomacy, not just with Trump. But in Trump's case, it is essential. Fourth, Trump thrives in highly orchestrated events where he is center stage and commands international attention. The 2018 Singapore summit with Kim Jong Un is instructive: when Trump perceived the summit as favorable, he was willing to engage and compromise. Similarly, Trump's attitude toward former President Moon Jae-in evolved. While initially skeptical during their first meeting in June 2017, Trump was noticeably more cooperative during the Seoul summit in November that year. In Seoul, Trump reportedly took a strong interest in visiting the Demilitarized Zone and warmed to President Moon. He showed that his attitude can shift when he feels respected or engaged in a dramatic setting. Fifth, Trump is eccentric, but still shrewd. His apparent rudeness is often a simple tactic to bolster his domestic image. His core concern is winning — especially on issues that matter to his base. If South Korea can identify areas of cooperation that align with Trump's domestic political agenda, those can be repackaged as victories for him while also serving Korean interests. One area of interest is shipbuilding. Trump has repeatedly emphasized revitalizing US manufacturing, particularly in industries like naval shipbuilding. South Korea could offer more specific ideas in this field. Moreover, emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and green technology present opportunities for joint initiatives. The key is to shape these proposals so they appear as Trump's ideas or triumphs. In summary, direct confrontation must be avoided, while strategic praise should be deployed. President Lee must project charisma, not submission. Mutually beneficial programs should be framed as Trump's victories. Expectations for the summit should be lowered. Trump's diplomacy is erratic, but not inscrutable. With careful preparation and psychological foresight, the summit can avoid disaster — and perhaps even yield progress. In this high-stakes encounter, restraint, strategy and narrative control will be more valuable than policy details.
Korea Herald
19 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul's adjustment to S. Korea-US military drill could put alliance to test: think tank
Despite Seoul floating talks of adjusting the scale and timing of the annual South Korea-US military exercise scheduled for mid-August, doing so would weaken Washington's trust in its decadeslong ally, a report by a local think tank said Wednesday. The report, published in Korean by the state-affiliated Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said that under current circumstances, an adjustment to the Ulchi Freedom Shield drill could undermine 'the efforts and willpower expressed by the US Forces Korea to continue the S. Korea-US joint military exercises." This could weaken both Washington's and the USFK's trust in Seoul, it noted. The think tank also warned that a potential one-sided concession from Seoul in the area of defense, without a proper negotiation with Pyongyang, could devalue the South's efforts and, later, even its negotiating power. The report addresses Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's remarks in July to reporters, saying that he plans to recommend to President Lee Jae Myung to 'make adjustments' to the large-scale drill scheduled for mid-August. The Lee administration has repeatedly gestured for an inter-Korean thaw, including removing the South's anti-Pyongyang loudspeakers installed across the border. Chung's remarks closely followed comments from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's influential sister, Kim Yo-jong, in July. She said Pyongyang was not interested in reviving talks with Seoul and denounced the 'aggressive' military exercises jointly conducted by South Korea and the US. The North has routinely condemned the joint military drills as a rehearsal for invasion and a provocation. There is a possibility that the North is aiming to establish a favorable environment when potentially reviving talks with both the US and the South, according to KIDA. Adjustment to the scale of the South Korea-US military exercises would be one of Pyongyang's conditions to achieve such an environment, alongside a USFK troop reduction, a declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War and official admission of the North's status as a nuclear power. Aligned with these likely goals, Kim Yo-jong's latest comments were aimed at testing the alliance between the Lee administration and the Donald Trump administration and their willingness to carry out the annual joint military exercise, according to the KIDA. The report released Wednesday was titled 'North Korea's negotiation strategy shown through Kim Yo-jong's comments and how (South Korea) should respond.'
Korea Herald
19 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee, Trump likely to defer details on ‘alliance modernization'
South Korea and the United States are expected to agree at their upcoming summit on a broad principle to 'modernize the alliance' amid an evolving regional security environment, while leaving key details to future working-level talks, according to officials in Seoul familiar with the matter. Seoul and Washington have been gearing up for the first in-person summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump, widely anticipated to take place in the US later this month. The summit is poised to address a wide range of agenda items centered on two key pillars: security and foreign affairs — with a focus on alliance modernization and the North Korean nuclear issue — and trade, particularly tariffs. The allies have been engaged in working-level talks in preparation for the summit. However, due to time constraints, Lee and Trump are expected to announce only a broad agreement in principle on alliance modernization at the summit, according to a diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The alliance modernization agenda had taken a back seat to the trade deal finalized on July 30, which had commanded the allies' primary attention. Seoul and Washington have been in discussion on how to modernize their alliance, with the aim of strengthening its capabilities and readiness posture amid an evolving regional security environment. However, the allies held only one round of working-level talks on the issue — director general-level consultations held on July 10 and 11 in Seoul. Trump and Lee are largely expected to echo the principle, which was agreed upon in a joint statement following the two-day working-level negotiations: "to strengthen the US-ROK Alliance into a future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance, and to modernize the Alliance in a mutually beneficial manner in the face of an evolving regional security environment." The ROK refers to South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. Alliance modernization gains focus The "alliance modernization" agenda, first proposed by the Trump administration and reflecting key US interests and demands, encompasses a wide range of issues that could bring significant changes not only to the South Korea–US alliance but also to the broader security landscape on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific region. Alliance modernization includes adjustments to the size and role of US Forces Korea, an increase in South Korea's defense spending, and an expanded leading role for Seoul in addressing threats from North Korea — with the US increasingly shifting its focus toward countering threats stemming from China. In particular, any adjustments to the size and role of US Forces Korea require careful consideration, as they are closely linked to the new US National Defense Strategy and the Global Posture Review — both expected to be completed between late summer and autumn. While the concept of 'strategic flexibility' for US Forces Korea was agreed upon by the allies in 2006, The Korea Herald has learned that Seoul recognizes the need for deeper discussions — based on the existing agreement — in light of the evolving regional security environment. In the 2006 agreement, Seoul agreed to respect the "necessity for strategic flexibility of the US forces the ROK," and Washington agreed to respect the "ROK position that it shall not be involved in a regional conflict in Northeast Asia against the will of the Korean people" in the implementation of strategic flexibility. Unlike other alliance modernization-related issues, South Korea's defense spending is expected to take center stage at the summit due to Trump's interest, with remaining items likely deferred to working-level talks, according to the source. The Korea Herald also learned from sources that the allies have been discussing the scope of alliance modernization. South Korea believes alliance modernization should not necessarily be confined to the military domain and could expand into other sectors, including technological cooperation. The US is also said to share this understanding. Allies differ on US Forces Korea As the allies prepare for the first Trump-Lee summit, public remarks by high-ranking officials have showed discrepancies over troop levels and the mandate of US Forces Korea. South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun dismissed the possibility of changes to the size and role of US Forces Korea. 'We are talking with the United States, but there is no concern about the US forces in Korea. We believe that they will remain as such and their role will remain as of today,' Cho said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday. However, US Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby suggested that Seoul should take greater responsibility in countering North Korean threats and reiterated Washington's call for increased defense spending. "South Korea continues to be a role model in its willingness to take more of the lead in a strong defense against the DPRK and in its spending on defense," Colby said on Aug. 1 on his official X account, following the first phone call between the defense chiefs of the allies on July 30. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "We and the ROK are closely aligned on the need to modernize the Alliance in response to the regional security environment," Colby added. "We will work closely with Seoul to ensure a strategically sustainable Alliance that is ready to defend against shared threats."
