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NK Looks to Smooth Inter-Korean Relations

2003-07-31

North Korea announced it would stop airing the anti-South Korean broadcast "Voice of National Salvation" beginning Friday (Aug. 1), ending a 33-year run that began in 1970.

The North previously claimed that the pro-communist radio station was based in Seoul, with few believing the assertion.

During inter-Korean ministerial talks earlier this month, the North proposed that the two Koreas stop airing propaganda broadcasts, including loudspeaker broadcasts along the border, beginning August 15.

The unconditional halt of propaganda radio broadcasts is interpreted as a significant step by the North toward inter-Korean rapprochement.

At the same time, the North's recent move appears designed to prompt the South to follow suit, a unification official said.

Pyongyang also allowed the entry of Seoul buses to Gaeseong for the second round of working-level economic talks on Tuesday. It was the first time that a South Korean delegation crossed the border without requiring clearance procedures or vehicle transfer.

After returning to Seoul later the same day, the mission reentered Gaeseong via the same route.

Pyeongyang also indicated on Wednesday it is ready to accept the multilateral talks format to settle the ongoing nuclear dispute once the survival of its regime is guaranteed, giving in to international demands for a multilateral settlement.

"If this matter is fundamentally resolved, we are not too bothered about the format of talks, about whether they will be bilateral or multilateral talks," an Australian broadcast company quoted North Korean Foreign Affairs spokesman So Chol as saying.

Launched in 1970, the Voice of National Salvation has found an audience with a number of South Korean dissidents during past military governments. But as South Korea became a democracy, the North's broadcast has lost much of its intended propaganda effect in the South.

Meanwhile, analysts in Seoul point out the North is seeking more effective propaganda tools, scrapping the old-fashioned media. According to the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korean authorities recently instructed their propaganda machine to make full use of the Internet to appeal to the youth.

Source : www.korea.net