South Korea Ends Anti-North Propaganda

Relations have been warming since this week's meeting, when the nations' leaders pledged to work together to end half a century of hostilities and unite families separated by the Korean War. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il even promised to visit South Korea. "The danger of war on the Korean peninsula has disappeared,'' South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said, briefing Cabinet members on the three-day meeting that ended Thursday. "The summit opened a new chapter for national unification." Throwing a warm and elaborate welcome for the South Korean leader, Kim Jong Il surprised the world by agreeing to take measures to build peace on the Korean peninsula, the world's last Cold War frontier. He ordered his state-controlled media and military to stop all anti-Seoul propaganda. On Friday, South Korea reciprocated by ordering its military to stop anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts at the border. For decades, both Koreas had exchanged vitriolic verbal insults over loudspeakers erected along the 155 mile-long demilitarized zone. Both Koreas also used balloons to scatter propaganda leaflets in each other's territory.