Seoul: South Korea has halted the broadcast of a propaganda radio program into North Korea, the defense ministry announced, as the South seeks to mend frayed ties with the North.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the move is the latest in Seoul's reconciliatory gestures, with President Lee Jae Myung vowing to restore inter-Korean ties and resume dialogue with Pyongyang. "The defense ministry has halted the 'Voice of Freedom' broadcast as part of efforts to ease inter-Korean military tensions," the ministry stated in a notice to reporters.
South Korea had been airing K-pop and news into North Korea through this radio program. Last year, it broadcast news on North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine. The ministry reportedly halted the broadcast starting earlier in the day, marking the first suspension of the radio program in 15 years. South Korea had resumed the radio program in May 2010, following North Korea's deadly attack on the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan.
Since taking office in June, President Lee has ordered the military to stop propaganda broadcasts along the border with the North and urged activists to cease sending balloons across the border, aiming to reduce tensions. Additionally, the National Intelligence Service suspended all of its decades-old broadcasts targeting the North Korean regime in July.