The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea have ended the half-century propaganda broadcasts on their border, reported South Korean news agency Yonhap on Tuesday.

In the final broadcast Friday night, the DPRK said, "We, from one blood and using one language, can no longer live separated and we must put the earliest possible end to the tragedy of national division."

The broadcast also said, "The imperialist United States is the root cause of suffering and misfortune that our people are experiencing. We should take a firm attitude to oppose pro-US traitorous forces and move forward in the direction of national (inter-Korean) cooperation."

The final broadcast ended at midnight Friday.

South Korea also halted its broadcasts about 10 minutes earlier.

"Now, we announce the historic fact that our voice of freedom broadcasts, which we have aired for 42 years since 1962, are being brought to closure according to the results of inter-Korean working-level military contacts," South Korea said in its last 10-minute broadcast just before midnight.

The two countries started border loudspeaker broadcasts between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, trying to lure opposing soldiers to defect.