President Lee Jae-myung instructed the military to suspend from 2 p.m. Wednesday its propaganda broadcasts targeting North Korea.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a briefing that the latest measure is in line with the government’s intent to restore inter-Korean trust and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, citing that Lee had fulfilled a promise he had made to the people during his presidential campaign. 

Kang said that the move was a substantial step to lessen the hardship of residents living near the inter-Korean border who had suffered from the loud broadcasts. 

Kang said the president had reached the decision on the propaganda broadcasts as a preemptive step to ease tensions on the peninsula at a time when the North has not engaged in any serious provocations. 

In line with Lee’s orders, the military suspended propaganda broadcasts toward the North from 2 p.m., a year after the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration restarted the broadcasts last June in response to the North’s repeated trash balloon launches toward the South.