South Korea this week dismantled all of its propaganda loudspeakers along the 250-kilometre demilitarised zone, carrying out President Lee Jae Myung’s first major confidence-building step since taking office in June. The Defence Ministry said the work, which began on 4 August and covered around 20 sites, followed the suspension of anti-Pyongyang broadcasts in June after years of on-and-off psychological warfare that included music, news and political messages beamed into the North. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on 9 August that they had detected North Korean soldiers taking down some of their own loudspeakers in several frontline areas. It is the first evidence of reciprocal action by Pyongyang since Lee assumed the presidency. The South Korean military stressed that it is still verifying whether the dismantling extends across the entire border and will continue to monitor the situation. The twin moves pause a tit-for-tat campaign that intensified after Seoul briefly resumed broadcasts in mid-2024 in response to rubbish-filled balloons launched from the North. While the two Koreas remain technically at war, Lee’s government has postponed parts of upcoming joint drills with the United States and urged civic groups to curtail leaflet launches, hoping the latest gestures can reopen channels for dialogue that have been frozen for years.