Anchor: The unification ministry is mulling over resuming broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, nearly five years after South Korea stopped blasting propaganda into North Korea via loudspeakers set up along the border. The review was prompted by an order from President Yoon Suk Yeol instructing his staff to look into suspending the 2018 military agreement that aimed to diffuse tensions along their mutual border.
Tom McCarthy summarizes the developments.
Report: The unification ministry is reviewing the possible legality of civic groups resuming propaganda leaflet activities and the military’s loudspeaker broadcasts towards North Korea should the Yoon Suk Yeol administration suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military pact.
According to an official from the unification ministry on Thursday, relevant departments are assessing whether these actions would be permitted after President Yoon on Wednesday ordered his office to consider suspending the 2018 military agreement if the North violates South Korea’s airspace again.
The ministry is specifically assessing the possible resumption in accordance with the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act after North Korean drones crossed into the South last week.
Article 23 of the act grants the president the authority to suspend any agreement between the two countries when deemed necessary for the preservation of national security, but Article 24 prohibits psychological warfare along the border, including loudspeaker broadcasts and leaflet dissemination.
The broadcasts, which range from K-pop songs to bulletins on the South’s economic prosperity, triggered the ire of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has in the past reportedly threatened to destroy them if they were not shut off. The civic groups’ leaflets primarily denounce Kim and his regime.
Yoon’s order on Wednesday pertains to the September 19 military agreement, an annex to the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, that was signed by the defense chiefs of the two Koreas in 2018, and was considered a landmark deal under the former Moon Jae-in administration.
Media reports on Thursday claimed that the president also instructed his staff to look into suspending the Pyongyang Joint Declaration in the event of another territorial violation.
The unification ministry official, however, cautioned against misinterpretations of the president’s order regarding the military agreement, stressing that a suspension is only being considered for the military agreement and not the overarching Pyongyang Joint Declaration.
Source: KBS World Radio