North and South Korea on Thursday announced they have restored previously suspended communication channels as part of an effort to restore ties between both governments.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un have agreed to "restore mutual confidence and develop their relationships again as soon as possible" following several exchanges since April, Moon's press secretary Park Soo-hyun said.
Communication Between Koreas
The inter-Korean communication channels began operating again at 10 a.m. Tuesday as the two leaders hope to recover from the setback in their relationship.
"In this regard, the top leaders of the North and the South agreed to make a big stride in recovering the mutual trust and promoting reconciliation by restoring the cutoff inter-Korean communication liaison lines through the recent several exchanges of personal letters," North Korea's state media outlet, KCNA, said, as reported by POLITICO.
North Korea cut off all lines of communication with South Korea in June 2020. According to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the move came after South Korea failed to stop activities from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
Some experts also claimed cutting off communication lines indicated that the DPRK had grown frustrated after the South Korea government failed to persuade the United States to lift the sanctions it placed on North Korea.
On June 13, Kim Yo-jong, Jong-un's younger sister, warned that the North Korean army was given permission to "take the next action against the enemy." Three days later, the DPRK blew up an inter-Korean joint liaison office near the border town of Kaesong.
Tensions between the two countries worsened on Sept. 22 after North Korean forces fatally shot a South Korea fisheries official who got lost on the DPRK's side of the Yellow Sea. The official, who was reported missing the previous day, was also burned, as reported by The Korea Herald.
National Crisis
The move to restore suspended communication lines come as North Korea faces food shortage caused by poor management, storm damage, and border shutdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DPRK is expected to face a food shortage of around 860,000 tonnes this year, according to a forecast by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. Additionally, the country will also produce 5.6 million tonnes of grain this year, which is 1.1. Million tonnes short of the amount it needs to feed its entire population.
"If this gap is not adequately covered through commercial imports and/or food aid, households could experience a harsh lean period from August to October," the forecast said, according to the South China Morning Post.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also made a rare reference to the country's food shortage, calling the situation "tense" and warning the country's residents to brace for worse situations.
However, experts say they have yet to see signs that the country will experience a nationwide famine like that in the 1990s, which killed up to 235,000 people, according to the North Korean government. Estimates by Natsios put those figures at 3.5 million.
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