In June last year, Pyongyang unilaterally cut off all official military and political communications after activists sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the border, but the two sides stated that all lines had been restored on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Unification in Seoul stated that they exchanged their first phone calls since the suspension on Tuesday morning, and the Ministry of Defense added that the military hotline has also resumed normal operations.
Moon Jae-in’s office stated that restoring the hotline is the first step in improving relations.
“The leaders of the two countries also agreed to restore mutual trust between the two countries as soon as possible, and once again promote the development of relations between the two countries,” it added in a statement.
In June 2018, the mild moon led to the first summit between North Korea and the incumbent US president in Singapore.
But after the second summit between Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump in Hanoi broke down, Pyongyang basically severed its ties with Seoul, leading to a standstill in nuclear negotiations.
Only a few days after the hotline was cut off last year, Pyongyang also bombed the inter-Korean liaison office on the side of the border and threatened to strengthen its military presence in the demilitarized zone separating them.
