SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has begun dismantling huge loudspeakers used to blare anti-Pyongyang broadcasts and K-pop songs from its border with North Korea.
The leaders of the rival Koreas agreed at a historic summit last week on a set of reconciliation steps, including the suspension of propaganda broadcasts and other hostile acts along their tense border.
Seoul's Defense Ministry said it began disassembling front-line loudspeakers Tuesday before pulling them away from the border.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Seoul detected signs that North Korea was taking similar steps Tuesday. The Defense Ministry said it cannot confirm the report.
For decades, with only a few breaks, the two sides have pumped out propaganda from huge banks of speakers as a form of psychological warfare. The South broadcast a mixture of news, songs and criticism of the northern regime, while the North blasted its neighbor's government and praised its own socialist system.
In another small sign after Friday's summit, North Korea said it would shift its clocks forward half an hour to align with its the South starting May 5.
The inter-Korean talks came ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
