ANKARA

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that he hoped for inter-Korean talks after Pyongyang began dismantling propaganda loudspeakers, according to local media.

Lee said such reciprocal measures will gradually lead to dialogue and communication between the two sides, and hopes to open the door to dialogue with North Korea, Yonhap News reported.

"We have been recently dismantling our loudspeakers along the border and I understand the North has also removed some of its loudspeakers, though I am not certain if it is complete," Lee told a Cabinet meeting.

His latest statement came after South Korea on Saturday reported that North Korea had started to dismantle its propaganda loudspeakers in a move indicating ease in tensions with Seoul.

Soon after his election to the top executive post in June, Lee ordered the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts along the dividing line facing North Korea, and also stopped sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets, as part of his efforts to restore inter-Korean trust and dialogue.

In reciprocal steps, Pyongyang also stopped its broadcasts and is now dismantling its infrastructure.

South Korea hosts more than 28,500 US troops under a bilateral defense treaty as the inter-Korean war of the 1950s ended in an armistice, not a ceasefire, keeping the divided Koreas technically at war.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid