South Korea’s military on Monday began dismantling the network of loudspeakers it had used to broadcast anti-Pyongyang messages across the Demilitarized Zone, the Defence Ministry said. The move fulfils a directive issued by President Lee Jae Myung, who turned off the speakers on 11 June as an early step toward reviving stalled dialogue with North Korea. The ministry described the dismantling as a “practical measure to help ease tensions between the South and the North” and stressed that it would not weaken readiness. Seoul had restarted the broadcasts in June 2024 in response to waves of trash-filled balloons launched from the North, but the new administration has sought to lower the temperature on the peninsula. Relations remain strained—Pyongyang recently rejected Seoul’s proposals for talks—and the two Koreas are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice. Even so, removing the equipment, some of which had been dormant since a previous détente in 2018, is intended to signal goodwill and create space for renewed diplomacy.