(Seoul) North and South Korea have restored their cross-border communications channels, Seoul said Monday, after Pyongyang cut them off in August and then fired a series of missiles.
Officials from the two countries took part in a telephone conversation on Monday morning, South Korea’s Ministry of Coordination said in a statement.
“The government believes that by re-establishing South-North relations, the groundwork has been laid for the resumption of relations between the Koreans,” he underlines.
The government expects to “resume talks soon and begin practical discussions to restore relations between the two Koreas.”
The South Korean Defense Ministry at the same time confirmed the resumption of military relations between the two countries.
North Korea’s official news agency KCNA announced a few hours ago that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had “expressed his desire to re-establish severed communications between the North and South,” explaining the decision as an attempt to establish a “lasting peace” on the peninsula.
One analyst downplayed the recovery Monday, calling it a “symbolic” gesture and underlining the latest missile island.
“While this leads to discussions, we can enter a new phase in which North Korea engages in dialogue, but at the same time continues to provoke provocations,” said Park Van-con, a professor of northern research. Korean women at Eva Women’s University.
Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang were severed by North Korea in August, and two weeks later there was a surprising breakdown in relations between the two countries.
The resumption comes after a series of missile attacks that sparked an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
In June 2020, North Korea cut off all official military and political communications channels for the first time, condemning the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets by militants in South Korea.
“Time Bomb”
One year later, on July 27, 2021, the two Koreas announced a surprising dissolution in their relationship to restore this cross-border communications.
The year after the end of the war in the Korean War was the first positive announcement after the summits between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 2012. Allowed any significant diplomatic progress.
Senior officials from both countries conducted their first phone interview on the same day and the two sides revealed the first correspondence between MM since April. Kim and Moon believed that re-establishing a telephone connection between them would be the first step in warming relations between the two countries, technically still at war.
However, the embargo did not last long after Pyongyang stopped responding to appeals two weeks later, annoyed by a joint US-South Korean military exercise.
Since August, Pyongyang has announced the launch of a long-range cruise missile, which was later delivered as a hypersonic and anti-aircraft missile on Friday.
North Korea has accused member states of playing a “time bomb” in a missile attack on Sunday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
