The South Korean military has suspended broadcasts of propaganda from loudspeakers on the inter-Korean border, the country’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on Monday.

The defense ministry said the decision was made to “ease military tensions between the South and the North and to create the atmosphere for the peaceful talks on the occasion of 2018 inter-Korean summit.”

“We’ve halted loudspeaker broadcasts against the North near the military demarcation line (MDL) as of 12 am today (April 23),” the MND said in a written statement.

The decision to switch off the loudspeakers comes five days ahead of a meeting