‘RESTORE TRUST’
Under Lee’s more hawkish predecessor, relations between the two Koreas had sunk to one of their lowest points in years.
Last year, North Korea sent thousands of trash-carrying balloons southwards, saying they were retaliation for anti-North propaganda balloons floated by South Korean activists.
Later, the South began border loudspeaker broadcasts for the first time in years — including K-pop tunes and international news — and the North started transmitting strange and unsettling sounds along the frontier.
After Lee’s election in June, Seoul said the two countries had halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarised zone and it later said it had detected North Korean troops dismantling loudspeakers on the frontier.
Lee has pledged to pursue dialogue with the nuclear-armed North without preconditions, saying last week his government “will take consistent measures to substantially reduce tensions and restore trust”.
However, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has said the North has “no will to improve relations” with the South.
