North Korea Not Answering Calls... Ministry of Unification Says "We Won't Call Anymore Either"

Ministry of Unification "No Call Attempts Since Confirming Contact Office Blockade on the 9th"
"Will Not Attempt Daily Calls Until Inter-Korean Agreement Is Reached"

The Inter-Korean Liaison Office, established according to the 'Panmunjom Declaration' agreed upon by the South and North Korean leaders in 2018, has faced a communication breakdown after 1 year and 9 months since its opening. The photo shows President Moon Jae-in on the afternoon of the 4th at the Blue House Yeomin-gwan, having a phone conversation with King Felipe VI of Spain.

On the 9th at noon, North Korea cut off all communication channels between the South and the North. The Ministry of Unification announced on the 10th that after confirming the communication blackout between the inter-Korean liaison offices at that time, no further calls have been attempted.

At a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, Ministry of Unification spokesperson Yeo Sang-gi responded to the question, "Did you attempt to connect a call to the North through the liaison office at 9 a.m. on the 10th?" by saying, "The liaison office attempted to call the North at noon yesterday but received no response, and no further calls have been attempted since then."

Spokesperson Yeo explained, "The North officially announced that it would cut off the inter-Korean communication line starting from noon yesterday. Our joint liaison office attempted to call at noon yesterday and confirmed this. Until there is an inter-Korean agreement to resume the communication line, we will not attempt daily calls."

Since the opening of the inter-Korean liaison office in September 2018 as a follow-up measure to the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, the two Koreas have routinely conducted opening and closing calls twice a day on weekdays at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. from the liaison office, even when there were no special issues.

The Institute for National Reunification under the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea blamed the South for the breakdown of inter-Korean relations and launched criticism against the South on the 9th. The South Korea propaganda media Uri Minjokkkiri TV reported such anti-South remarks by Jang Myung-cheol, a researcher at the Institute for National Reunification, on the same day.

Regarding criticism from some quarters that the government is responding 'submissively' to North Korea's blocking of all inter-Korean communication lines, spokesperson Yeo said, "It is not appropriate to approach this from an emotional perspective of submissiveness or aggressiveness."

Spokesperson Yeo stated, "We clearly affirm that the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets violates the Panmunjom Declaration, which both Koreas agreed to suspend. Therefore, the government judged it necessary to promptly clarify its position on this matter."

After Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the Workers' Party of North Korea, issued a statement early on the 4th pressuring the severance of inter-Korean relations by highlighting the leaflet distribution, the government quickly announced within about four hours that it was preparing legislation to regulate the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets.

Spokesperson Yeo said, "The government had been reviewing more effective improvement measures even before the North raised the issue. It is inappropriate to evaluate the government's position as submissive merely based on the apparent sequence of events after the North's complaint."

The Ministry of Unification also put on hold the Panmunjom tour plan, which was being coordinated with health authorities for a resumption date while monitoring the progress of African Swine Fever (ASF).

The health authorities conducted ASF specimen tests at the Panmunjom tour site, and if the final result is negative, the tour was scheduled to resume as a small-scale pilot tour as early as the end of this month.

Regarding related questions, spokesperson Yeo said, "Considering the current situation in inter-Korean relations, we are comprehensively reviewing the resumption timing."

Meanwhile, North Korea previously announced through the Korean Central News Agency on the 9th, "From 12 p.m. on June 9, the communication lines between the North and South authorities maintained through the inter-Korean joint liaison office, the East-West Sea communication lines between the North and South military, the inter-Korean communication test line, and the direct communication line between the Workers' Party Central Committee headquarters and the Blue House will be completely cut off and discarded."