North Korea appears to have stopped loudspeakers blasting noise, Seoul says
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea appears to have stopped loudspeakers near the border targeting South Korea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday.
The JCS said that North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts were not heard on Thursday, and the South Korean military was monitoring Pyongyang's activities.
Seoul suspended its own loudspeaker broadcasts near the border targeting North Korea on Wednesday, after having resumed propaganda and K-pop blasts last year during a time of growing tension with its neighbour.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who took office this month vowing to resume dialogue with the North, ordered the move to ease tension, a presidential spokesperson said.
Those living near the heavily fortified border have opposed the loudspeaker broadcasts, which they blame for severe noise nuisance.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Israeli strike likely killed Iranian chief of staff, top nuclear scientists, official says
(Reuters) -Israel's strikes on Iran on Friday have likely killed members of Iran's general staff, including the chief of staff and several senior nuclear scientists, an Israeli defence official said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
North Korea claims to have successfully repaired and relaunched into the water its damaged destroyer
North Korea says it has repaired its damaged second destroyer and launched it into the water in the presence of leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said it launched the destroyer - the second it built this year - off the east coast of the country on Thursday. KCNA cited Kim as saying the country's two destroyers will play a big role in improving the North Korean navy's operational capabilities. Kim reiterated previous claims that his naval buildup is a justified response to perceived threats posed by the United States and its allies in Asia, which in recent years have expanded their combined military exercises and updated their deterrence strategies to counter Kim's nuclear ambitions. He said the North will respond to the threats by his rivals with 'overwhelming military action' and vowed to build a navy with 'long-range operational capabilities.' Last month, North Korea said the ship was damaged in a failed launch, sparking fury from Kim, who has vowed to build a stronger navy to cope what he calls escalating US-led threats against his country. Kim earlier said the failed launched was caused by criminal negligence. North Korea's state media later said that authorities detained four officials including the vice director of the Workers' Party's munitions industry department over the botched launch. North Korea's extremely secretive nature makes it virtually impossible to independently confirm its announcement on the ship's repair. Outside experts earlier said it remained unclear how severely the 5,000-ton-class destroyer was damaged and questioned North Korea's announcement that it could repair the ship's damage at an early date. The damaged warship was North Korea's second known destroyer and seen as a crucial asset toward Kim's goal of modernizing its naval forces. It was in the same class as the country's first destroyer unveiled in April, which experts assessed as the North's largest and most advanced warship to date. Kim lavishly praised that ship, which was launched in the western port of Nampo, saying it advances his goal of expanding the military's operations range and nuclear strike capabilities. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Taking lessons from Ukraine, Taiwan eyes sea drones to counter China
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard WUSHI, Taiwan (Reuters) -Just off the small Taiwan fishing port of Wushi on its Pacific coast, a Taiwanese company is testing what could eventually be a powerful but unglamorous new weapon in the island's military arsenal - sea drones. Used to great effect by Ukraine in the Black Sea against Russia, Taiwan is learning lessons on how it could use sea drones as an effective and low-cost way to fend off any possible Chinese invasion. These drones are uncrewed, remotely controlled small vessels that are packed with explosives and can be guided toward ships or potentially even attack targets in the air. Pushed by the United States, Taiwan has been working to transform its armed forces to be able to wage "asymmetric warfare", using mobile, smaller and often cheaper weapons which still pack a targeted punch, like sea drones. "Uncrewed boats or vehicles have played a very significant role in the Ukraine war," Chen Kuan-ting, a lawmaker for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who sits on parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, told Reuters. "Uncrewed vehicles, whether they are boats or underwater vehicles, can effectively deter China because Taiwan is not the attacking side, we are the defending side," he said. Taiwan's defence ministry's research and development arm, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, has termed the sea drone plan the "Swift and Sudden" project, which so far has a modest budget of around T$800 million ($26.77 million). Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday sea drones would be included in an additional spending package to be unveiled later this year. Details of that special budget have yet to be announced. William Chen, chairman of the Thunder Tiger company, told Reuters last week on a boat off Wushi while viewing a test of their SeaShark 800 sea drone, which can carry 1,200 kg (2,600 lbs) of explosives and travel up to 500 km (310 miles), that these new weapons present an element of surprise for China. "We can create uncertainty. We can fill the Taiwan Strait with danger and risks. No one knows where these dangers could surface," Chen added. SEA DRONE SHOW Next week, Thunder Tiger will be among 12 Taiwanese and foreign companies joining an exhibition just down the coast from Wushi arranged by the defence ministry to showcase unmanned surface vehicles that may end up being added to Taiwan's arsenal. Other companies taking part, according to the ministry, include Taiwan navy contractor Lungteh Shipbuilding and U.S. military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries. "Drones is a top priority for both the United States and Taiwan. Obviously the conflict in Ukraine is focusing minds on what the next generation of warfare will look like," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, who is leading a U.S. defence industry delegation to Taiwan this week, including drone makers. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up its military pressure over the past five years, including staging half a dozen rounds of war games. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan has been studying how Ukraine has deployed drones to successfully offset Russia's advantage on the battlefield and has enlisted commercial drone companies, including Thunder Tiger, to help. Ukraine has deployed sea drones not only to attack ships in Russia's Black Sea fleet, but also to shoot down aircraft. Taiwan's navy is dwarfed by that of China with its aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines, though the country lacks recent combat experience. China's last successful large-scale amphibious assault was in 1950 when it seized Hainan island at the tail end of the Chinese civil war, with troops ferried across on junks. Peter Chen, a drone expert and executive director of Taiwan security think tank TTRDA, said Taiwan can undoubtedly make world-class sea drones. "But when it comes to the application, how to turn them into top-notch weapons, it is not the responsibility of private companies. The views of government and the military on how to properly integrate the weapons into the battle strategy, that needs more thinking," he said.
