North Korea and South Korea have agreed to restore their broken communication links. This was announced by the presidential office of the South. The North had unilaterally cut off all official communications with the South in June last year, following threats from activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
But the leaders of the two Koreas have exchanged personal letters since April aimed at improving ties and agreed to restore telephone lines as a first step, the Southern presidential office said in a statement.
North Korea and South Korea thus reopened the direct cross-border communication line and made the first telephone contact at 10 am today, thirteen months after the interruption of communications. This was announced by the Blue House, the South Korean presidential office, quoted by the Yonhap news agency. North Korea also confirmed the resumption of the direct line with South Korea, stating that the restoration of the hotline will have “a positive role” in improving relations with Seoul.
The announcement confirms rumors leaked in the South Korean press in recent weeks indicating a resumption of contacts between the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, in correspondence with a lowering of the tone of Pyongyang’s propaganda against Seoul.
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