North and South Korea's leaders have pledged to improve relations and resume previously suspended communication channels between the two countries.
Why it matters: The resumption of the hotline on Tuesday comes despite stalled negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang on the denuclearization of North Korea, which broke down after a second summit between then-President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended without a deal in 2019.
Details: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed to "restore mutual confidence and develop their relationships again as soon as possible," South Korea's Blue House spokesperson Park Soo Hyun said in a televised briefing, per AP.
- This followed an exchange of letters between the two leaders that began in April.
What they're saying: Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement that "the whole Korean nation desires to see the North-South relations recovered from setback and stagnation as early as possible."
- "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," the statement added.
Flashback: In June last year, North Korea cut the hotline, resumed military exercises, reestablished guard posts near the border and demolished an inter-Korean liaison office.
Of note: President Biden and Moon both reaffirmed the importance of North Korea's denuclearization when they met in May.
- Biden has pledged to pursue "a calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy" with North Korea.
- The U.S. president last month extended for another year a long-standing old executive order declaring a national emergency over the nuclear threat North Korea poses.
Go deeper... South Korean president: Trump "beat around the bush and failed" on North Korea
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
