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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
North Korea dismantles propaganda loudspeakers from border to ease tensions with South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military said Saturday it detected North Korea removing some of its loudspeakers from the inter-Korean border, days after the South dismantled its own front-line speakers used for anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts, in a bid to ease tensions. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't disclose the sites where the North Koreans were removing speakers and said it wasn't immediately clear whether the North would take all of them down. In recent months, South Korean border residents have complained that North Korean speakers blasted irritating sounds, including howling animals and pounding gongs, in a tit-for-tat response to South Korean propaganda broadcasts. 4 South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers that were set up for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju on May 1, 2018. AFP via Getty Images 4 President Lee Jae Myung stopped South Korea's broadcasts to try and ease tensions between the war-divided rivals. AP The South Korean military said the North stopped its broadcasts in June after Seoul's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, halted the South's broadcasts in his government's first concrete step toward easing tensions between the war-divided rivals. South Korea's military began removing its speakers from border areas on Monday but didn't specify how they would be stored or whether they could be quickly redeployed if tensions flared again. North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn't immediately confirm it was taking down its speakers. South Korea's previous conservative government resumed daily loudspeaker broadcasts in June last year, following a yearslong pause, in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South. The speakers blasted propaganda messages and K-pop songs, a playlist designed to strike a nerve in Pyongyang, where Kim has been pushing an intense campaign to eliminate the influence of South Korean pop culture and language among the population in a bid to strengthen his family's dynastic rule. The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns further heightened tensions already inflamed by North Korea's advancing nuclear program and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and their trilateral security cooperation with Japan. Lee, who took office in June after winning an early election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, wants to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon's hard-line policies and shunned dialogue. 4 The broadcasts were in retaliation for North Korea flying trash-laden balloons toward the South. REUTERS 4 North Korea's ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn't immediately confirm taking down its speakers. via REUTERS But Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, rebuffed overtures by Lee's government in late July, saying that Seoul's 'blind trust' in the country's alliance with the United States makes it no different from its conservative predecessor. She later issued a separate statement dismissing the Trump administration's intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea's denuclearization, suggesting that Pyongyang — now focused on expanding ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine — sees little urgency in resuming talks with Seoul or Washington. Tensions between the Koreas can possibly rise again later this month, when South Korea and the United States proceed with their annual large-scale combined military exercises, which begin on Aug. 18. North Korea labels the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear program.
Epoch Times
6 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Terrorist Designation of Cartels Gives US New Power to Target Maduro-Linked Groups: Rubio
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that after designating several criminal groups as global terrorist organizations—including one linked to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro—the United States will be able to use all its power to eradicate them. 'Here's the thing. We cannot continue to just treat these guys as local street gangs,' Rubio said in an interview with Raymond Arroyo, host at the Catholic media outlet EWTN, broadcast on Aug. 7.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Armenians caught between hope and distrust after accord with Azerbaijan
The streets were almost deserted in Yerevan Saturday because of the summer heat, but at shaded parks and fountains, Armenians struggled to make sense of what the accord signed a day earlier in Washington means for them. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, two Caucasian countries embroiled in a territorial conflict since the fall of the USSR, met Friday and signed a peace treaty under the watch of US President Donald Trump. In Yerevan, however, few of the people asked by AFP were enthusiastic. - 'Acceptable' - "It's a good thing that this document was signed because Armenia has no other choice," said Asatur Srapyan, an 81-year-old retiree. He believes Armenia hasn't achieved much with this draft agreement, but it's a step in the right direction. "We are very few in number, we don't have a powerful army, we don't have a powerful ally behind us, unlike Azerbaijan," he said. "This accord is a good opportunity for peace." Maro Huneyan, a 31-year-old aspiring diplomat, also considers the pact "acceptable", provided it does not contradict her country's constitution. "If Azerbaijan respects all the agreements, it's very important for us. But I'm not sure it will keep its promises and respect the points of the agreement," she added. - 'endless concessions' - But Anahit Eylasyan, 69, opposes the agreement and, more specifically, the plan to create a transit zone crossing Armenia to connect the Nakhchivan region to the rest of Azerbaijan. "We are effectively losing control of our territory. It's as if, in my own apartment, I had to ask a stranger if I could go from one room to another," she explains. She also hopes not to see Russia, an ally of Armenia despite recent tensions, expelled from the region." Anahit also criticizes Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for "making decisions for everyone" and for his "endless concessions to Azerbaijan". "We got nothing in exchange, not our prisoners, nor our occupied lands, nothing. It's just a piece of paper to us," she fumes. Shavarsh Hovhannisyan, a 68-year-old construction engineer, agrees, saying the agreement "is just an administrative formality that brings nothing to Armenia." "We can't trust Azerbaijan," Hovhannisyan asserted, while accusing Pashinyan of having "turned his back" on Russia and Iran. "It's more of a surrender document than a peace treaty, while Trump only thinks about his image, the Nobel Prize." - 'More stability... in the short term' - According to President Trump, Armenia and Azerbaijan have committed "to stop all fighting forever; open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations; and respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity." For Olesya Vartanyan, an independent researcher specializing in the Caucasus, the Washington agreement "certainly brings greater stability and more guarantees for the months, if not years, to come." But given the long-lasting tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, "I fear that we will have to plan only for the very short term," she said. mkh-asy-pop/bds/gv/tc
