The South Korean military has resumed loudspeaker broadcasts into North Korea in areas near the military demarcation line as part of its response to probe results that found the North responsible for the sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” naval vessel.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young announced the resumption of the broadcasts during a news conference Monday, defining the Cheonan incident as a North Korean military provocation against South Korea.

He said that the decision is appropriate because North Korea violated inter-Korean agreements by sinking the ship in late March.

South Korea had halted the propaganda broadcasts in June 2004 after running them for decades.

The defense minister also said that in line with the Proliferation Security Initiative, South Korea will hold maritime drills in an effort to prevent North Korea from exporting nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.