N. Korea unresponsive to regular contact via inter-Korean liaison line for 5th day

North Korea remained unresponsive to daily routine calls with South Korea through an inter-Korean liaison communication channel for the fifth straight day Tuesday, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

The North was unresponsive to routine opening calls at 9 a.m. since it stopped answering calls from the South last Friday, the ministry said.

The ministry earlier said it is putting weight on the possibility of Pyongyang's "unilateral" suspension of the liaison communication channel.

North Korea also did not respond to the South's opening call via the militaries' East and West seas communication lines, the defense ministry said.

The two Koreas have made two phone calls daily, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., as part of liaison communication, though the daily routine calls have gone unanswered in the past for several reasons, including technical glitches.

In July 2021, the North restored the inter-Korean hotline, about a year after it severed the contact channel in protest of Seoul activists' leaflet campaigns critical of Pyongyang.

The reclusive country again did not answer calls via the liaison line in August that year for about two months in apparent protest against Seoul-Washington's military exercises. (Yonhap)