Key Points

Hours earlier, the military said it halted the anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts. The suspension came a year after the military had resumed such propaganda broadcasts in June last year in response to North Korea's repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons across the heavily fortified border.

"The president instructed military authorities to suspend the loudspeaker broadcasts installed in the front-line areas toward North Korea at 2 p.m. today," presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.

"This measure reflects the government's commitment to restoring trust in inter-Korean relations and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula," she said.

Suspending the loudspeaker broadcasts was one of Lee's campaign pledges regarding inter-Korean affairs before winning the June 3 election. As a presidential candidate, Lee had also vowed to stop sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

As President, Lee has said he will seek to improve ties with the North, despite the strained relations after Pyongyang severed its ties with the South and declared Seoul as its primary enemy.

"It is aimed at easing tensions, given the absence of any major provocations by the North recently," Kang said. "It is meant to reduce military confrontation between the two Koreas and open the door to rebuilding mutual trust."

Kang also called the decision a "practical step" to alleviate the suffering of residents in the border areas who have been affected by the noise.

Under the preceding Yoon Suk Yeol government, the military had resumed blasting the loudspeakers for the first time in six years, as it pushed for its hard-line stance toward the North, Yonhap news agency reported.

In a departure from the Yoon government's approach, the unification ministry, in charge of inter-Korean affairs, expressed regret earlier this week over anti-Pyongyang leafleting by a group of abductee families, citing the need to build peace and ensure public safety.

- IANS