(VOVWORLD) - South Korea has urged North Korea to maintain communication lines after North Korea didn't answer phone calls on a military line Tuesday morning.
This was the first time the North Koreans didn’t answer the routine calls since the hotlines were restored after a bilateral military agreement was reached in 2018, defense ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo told reporters.
A call to the joint liaison office hotline, which North Korea said it shuttered Friday, also went unanswered. Inter-Korean communication lines must be maintained according to the agreement because it is the fundamental means of communication, a South Korean Unification Ministry official said in a statement.
The South Korean government will continue to work towards peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula while adhering to the inter-Korean agreement, the official added.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Tuesday he is against North Korean defectors and South Korean activists sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the North, calling it a potential hindrance to inter-Korean relations.