1st LD: S. Korea stops loudspeaker broadcast against DPRK ahead of summit

SEOUL, April 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military has stopped blaring loudspeaker broadcast against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in border area early on Monday to create a peaceful mood ahead of the inter-Korean summit later this week, according to Seoul's defense ministry.

The ministry said in a statement that anti-DPRK broadcasts via loudspeakers sitting along the military demarcation line (MDL) have stopped from 12:00 a.m. local time Monday (1500 GMT Sunday) to ease military tensions between the two Koreas and create a reconciliatory mood for the upcoming summit.

It anticipated the stoppage to be an opportunity for stopping smear and propaganda campaigns against each other and bearing fruits of peace.

The peace gesture came ahead of the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un on Friday at the border village of Panmunjom.

In the vicinity of Panmunjom, called Joint Security Area, the South Korean military had operated loudspeakers to criticize the DPRK government.

South Korea resumed the psychological warfare of anti-DPRK broadcasts in January 2016 in response to Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test before stopping it early Monday.

The joint annual South Korea-U.S. war games, which kicked off on April 1, will highly likely halt on the summit day, according to Yonhap news agency report.

The two-week-long Key Resolve command post exercise started early Monday as scheduled, but the first part of it will highly likely be suspended on the Moon-Kim summit day and resume the drill from next week, according to the report.

The reconciliatory gestures came in response to the DPRK leader's decision to discontinue nuclear and missile tests and shut down its main nuclear testing facility.

The decision was announced at the Third Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea last Friday. Enditem