South Korea has stopped anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts over the border ahead of the inter-Korean summit talks set for this week.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that it halted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts across the Military Demarcation Line as of 12 a.m. Monday to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas and create a peaceful mood for the summit talks set for Friday.

The ministry hoped that with its latest move, the two Koreas will stop slandering each other and halt propaganda activities to move towards peace.

South Korea started propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts in May 1963, and repeated halts and resumptions according to changes in cross-border relations. 

Seoul stopped the broadcasts in 2000 when the two Koreas held their first summit. However it reactivated the loudspeakers in 2015 after the North's sinking of the South Korean Cheonan naval vessel. 

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