South Korea’s military announced on Saturday that it has detected North Korea beginning to dismantle some of its loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border. This development comes days after South Korea removed its own propaganda broadcasting equipment in a gesture aimed at easing cross-border tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the locations where the dismantling was observed, nor could they confirm whether North Korea intended to remove all of its loudspeakers. These devices had been used in recent months to transmit disruptive sounds , including howling animals and gongs, in retaliation for South Korea’s anti-North Korean broadcasts.
The shift follows a significant policy change by South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, who halted the South’s loudspeaker broadcasts in June as a first step toward rebuilding ties with Pyongyang. The equipment removal began earlier this week, though military officials have not disclosed how or where the loudspeakers will be stored.
“We have never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them.”
Kim Yo Jong ,vice dept director Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea pic.twitter.com/4CiJPMsyNn— juche0071 (@juche0071) August 14, 2025
Previously, under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, South Korea had resumed daily propaganda broadcasts in response to North Korea sending balloons filled with trash across the border. These broadcasts featured criticism of North Korea’s leadership and K-pop music, which Pyongyang views as a threat to its ideological control.
Despite President Lee’s overtures, North Korea has largely dismissed Seoul’s peace efforts. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, recently rejected dialogue, criticizing Seoul’s alliance with the U.S. and showing little interest in renewed diplomacy.
Tensions may escalate again with the start of joint U.S.-South Korea military drills on August 18, which Pyongyang regularly condemns as invasion rehearsals.
