North, South Korea restore communication channels
In a surprise move, North Korea and South Korea have restored the hotline that Pyongyang cut off over a year ago when ties between the two Koreas deteriorated sharply
South Korea’s presidential Blue House announced in a statement that the two
Koreas reopened communication channels on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. local
time, as part of an effort to rebuild trust. According to the statement the leaders of
the two countries have also agreed to “restore mutual confidence and develop their
relationships again as soon as possible.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
reached the agreement during several exchanges of letters since April. The
correspondence included Moon’s calls for the recovery of the hotline and stalled
denuclearization talks.
The South Korean President has long sought warmer relations with Pyongyang and
is credited with brokering the initial summit between Kim and then US president
Donald Trump in June 2018.
North Korea cut off all communication channels with South Korea in June 2020
after a failed second summit between the two sides and also in protest of what it
described as South Korea’s failure to stop activists from sending anti-Pyongyang
leaflets across the border.
North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war because the 1950-1953
Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The two countries
remain split along the world’s most heavily fortified border ever since. Tuesday
marks the 68th anniversary of the signing of the armistice.
