North Korea not answering call on military hotline

The military hotline between South and North Korea has remained cut since early June when the North severed all official communication channels between the two countries in protest over launches of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets by defector groups in Seoul.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday, the North has not been answering a routine daily call from the South, despite its latest suspension of further military action against Seoul.

“As far as we know, communication on the military hotline has ground to a halt,” deputy spokesperson Moon Hong-sik told a regular briefing.

The North on June 9 cut off military communication, along with hotlines connecting the offices of President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and channels at an inter-liaison office, which the North later on June 16 demolished to protest the leaflet launches.

It has yet to put into action its threats of hostile military actions.

The communist regime had suspended aggression and not withdrawn it, a senior military official in Seoul said, and appears ready to stage a strike again at any moment.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)