Seoul halts propaganda broadcasts along Pyongyang border

South Korea announced on Monday that it has stopped propaganda broadcasts along the border with the North ahead of a historic leaders summit on Friday, saying it was aimed at boosting the reconciliatory mood on the peninsula.

"The Ministry of National Defence halted the loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea in the vicinity of the military demarcation line (MDL)," it said in a statement.

It was aimed at "reducing military tensions between the South and North and creating the mood of peaceful talks" on the occasion of the summit talks, Yonhap News Agency quoted the statement as saying.

The summit between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to take place at the truce village of Panmunjom.

According to the ministry, Monday's move was in reply to Pyongyang's peace gestures, including the weekend announcement of shutting down its nuclear test facilities, suspend nuclear tests and long-range missile launches.

South Korea began anti-Pyongyang broadcasts using high-decibel loudspeakers along the border in 1963.

The two sides halted the broadcasts in 2015 in a deal at high-level talks, but Seoul resumed it in January 2016 in response to the Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test.

--IANS

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