SEOUL: South Korea has announced that North Korea has cut off the liaison communication line between the two countries.
According to a statement by the South Korean government, North Korea remained unresponsive to daily routine calls with South Korea through an inter-Korean liaison communication channel and a military hotline for the fourth straight day on Monday.
The two Koreas are supposed to hold phone calls twice a day, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., via their joint liaison channel. However, calls from the liaison hotline do not take place on weekends.
Calls through a military hotline also went unanswered for the fourth straight day on Monday, according to the South’s defense ministry.
The unification ministry said it puts more weight on the North’s “unilateral” move to block the liaison communication channel.
Officials, however, spoke about a possibility that the North may be using the suspension of communication to protest joint military drills between South Korea and the United States or the latest release by the ministry of a report on North Korea’s human rights.
Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated during a regular press briefing that while monitoring the situation, the government is reviewing how to respond to the North’s move, and that it will not take long for them to issue an official stance.
