SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea has suspended its long-running military radio programme Voice of Freedom, in what officials described as a step to ease tensions with North Korea.
According to the Defence Ministry, the broadcast, which transmitted news, South Korean popular music and sharp commentary critical of Pyongyang, was halted on Monday for the first time in 15 years.
The programme, first launched in the 1960s, was restarted in May 2010 following the sinking of the warship Cheonan, an international newsire reported.
The move follows last month’s dismantling of propaganda loudspeakers along the Demilitarised Zone, part of a wider push by President Lee Jae-myung’s administration to reduce military friction on the peninsula.
According to the Associated Press, officials have urged activists to refrain from launching leaflet balloons into the North as part of the same de-escalation strategy.
The suspension underscores how propaganda tools have historically mirrored the state of inter-Korean relations — silenced during brief periods of détente, only to return in times of confrontation.
Whether the latest halt paves the way for substantive engagement remains uncertain, as the two Koreas remain technically at war under the 1953 armistice.
