South Korea has started to dismantle loudspeakers along the border with North Korea that broadcast anti-Pyongyang messaging. The move was initiated by the new Lee Jae Myung administration in Seoul as part of a series of conciliatory gestures aimed at de-escalating tensions on the peninsula.

The speakers had previously been used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda, but the new liberal government in South Korea halts the broadcasts as it looks revive dialogue with Pyongyang.

SEOUL and LONDON -- The South Korean military began dismantling loudspeakers that had been placed along its border with North Korea, South Korea's Defense Ministry said.