Seoul, Pyongyang restore communication hotlines

The Presidential Blue House in Seoul announced today that South Korea and North Korea, cut off for more than a year, have restored their cross-border communication lines.

The Blue House said in a statement that the two Koreas decided to resume their direct communications hotlines from 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

All communication lines were cut since June last year to protest North Korea’s failure to stop Seoul from sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda letters to civilian activists.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have exchanged personal letters several times since April to communicate about the issues of restoring inter-Korean ties, according to a statement.

Moon and Kim agreed to restore previously cut inter-Korean communication lines, the statement said.

The two leaders also agreed to restore mutual trust and enhance relations at the earliest.

Meanwhile, South and North Korean military officials reopened their military communication lines and returned them to normal operation at 10 a.m., the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a separate statement.

The ministry noted that faxing for fixed-line phone calls and exchange of documents through fiber-optic cables is currently under a normal operation.
Starting Tuesday afternoon, military officials from both Koreas plan to resume their regular phone calls twice a day at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The ministry said the western military hotline on the inter-Korean border operated normally, but some technical problems were found with the eastern hotline. It said the restored hotline would make a significant contribution to de-escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula.