Koreas, signs of thaw: official communications reopened

Thaw signals along the 38th parallel. North Korea and South Korea have reopened their official communication channels. This was announced by the presidential palace in Seoul and the Kcna news agency in Pyongyang. North Korea terminated the ‘hotline’ in June last year to protest South Korea’s propaganda leaflet campaign against the Kim Jong il regime across the border. The suspension of contacts, decided unilaterally by Pyongyang, took place in the midst of the impasse of inter-Korean talks, two years after the three summits in 2018 between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Today, surprisingly, the announcement in Seoul, followed by a note published by the North Korean news agency Kcna: “In accordance with the agreement between the two leaders, the North and the South have decided to resume all lines of inter-Korean communication starting from July 27 at 10 “. Since last April there has been an exchange of letters between Kim and Moon with the aim of improving relations, says the South Korean presidency, which underlines how today’s decision taken by the two leaders serves “to restore mutual trust between the two Koreas as much as possible and to advance relations once again”.