An unexpected lull in inter-Korean relations.
Pyongyang and Seoul announced Tuesday, July 27, the restoration of communication channels between the two countries, more than a year after their suspension, as well as exchanges of letters between their leaders.
This decision, which was simultaneously announced by the two capitals, coincides with the anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-1953).
This is the first positive announcement since the series of summits, in 2018, between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which did not allow any diplomatic breakthrough. of importance.
The two camps, which are still technically at war, announced that the two men had exchanged letters since April and decided that the restoration of communication channels would be a productive first step towards resuming relations.
"The highest leaders of the North and the South have agreed to take a big step towards restoring mutual trust and promoting reconciliation by restoring the inter-Korean lines of communication which have been suspended," the agency reports. North Korean official KCNA.
North Korea unilaterally cut off all official channels of military and political communication in June 2020 after denouncing the sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to its territory by militants based in the South.
“Restore mutual trust”
This suspension came at a time when the inter-Korean discussions were at a standstill, two years after the three summits which brought together, in 2018, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in. .
But against all odds, the two camps announced that all communications had been restored Tuesday morning.
They exchanged a first phone call in the morning, the South Korean Unification Ministry said.
And Moon Jae-in's office saw it as a first step towards improving relationships.
"The two leaders decided to restore mutual trust between the two Koreas as soon as possible and move forward in the relationship again," he said.
Moon Jae-in was one of the main architects of the 2018 inter-Korean rapprochement, which took place in the context of the Pyeongchang Olympics.
It had led to the first summit in history between a North Korean leader and a sitting US president, in this case Donald Trump.
This first meeting took place in June 2018 in Singapore and was followed by two other interviews between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.
The inter-Korean process and the negotiations on the nuclear and ballistic programs of the North have generally stalled since the fiasco of the Kim-Trump summit of February 2019 in Hanoi.
A few days after having suspended the communication channels, Pyongyang had destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office located on its soil which was one of the symbols of detente on the peninsula.
Towards a dialogue with Washington?
Since US President Joe Biden took office in January, Pyongyang and Washington have adopted a very cautious attitude, poles apart from the diplomacy of the Trump years, which oscillated between the exchange of insults and hugs. in front of the media around the world.
In June, Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang should both prepare for "dialogue and confrontation" with Washington, with particular emphasis on the possibility of "confrontation."
The White House for its part had promised "a calibrated, practical, open to diplomacy" approach with North Korea, pleading for a "realistic" approach through diplomatic channels, in close consultation with South Korea and Japan.
US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim in June offered to meet with envoys from Pyongyang "anywhere, anytime, no preconditions."
Experts said Tuesday that the restoration of communications was a form of Kim Jong-un's response to the US proposal for dialogue.
"It seems he has decided that domestic and foreign policy in the North can benefit from the restoration of inter-Korean relations," Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.
Despite the deadlock in the discussions, Moon Jae-in has repeatedly stressed the importance of restoring inter-Korean ties, he added.
"This should be read as Kim Jong-un's first response in Seoul and Washington," he added.
With AFP
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