N.KOREA REMOVES LOUDSPEAKERS ACROSS BORDER AREA

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North Korea has removed loudspeakers in the border area following Kim Jong-un's order to postpone the military action plan against South Korea. But when South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo demanded that Pyongyang withdraw its military action plan as well, the North immediately pushed back.

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​​This is Kaepung-gun County in North Korea's Hwanghwaebuk-do Province seen from the Peace Observatory on Ganghwado Island of South Korea. Loudspeakers that had been installed again on the mountains by the North Korean army were removed in just one day. Seoul says all three dozen loudspeakers that were installed in the DMZ area from June 21 are now gone. During his appearance at the National Assembly, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo went a step further to say that Seoul continues to abide by the Panmunjom Declaration and the inter-Korean military agreement, and demanded that Pyongyang withdraw its military action plan against the South.

[Soundbite] JEONG KYEONG-DOO(MINISTER OF DEFENSE (JUN. 24)) : "The North said it would postpone its military action plan. I think it must be withdrawn altogether. Meanwhile we must maintain combat readiness regardless of that."

Vice Chairman of North Korea's Central Committee of the Workers' Party Kim Yong-chol immediately issued a statement expressing regret about the defense minister's remarks, calling them "careless." Kim Yong-chol, however, added that the future course of inter-Korean ties will be determined by the attitude and actions of the South. Seoul says it will analyze cautiously the background of Pyongyang's decision to suspend its hostile acts against South Korea.