Restoration of Inter-Korean Military Communication Line on the 68th Anniversary of the Armistice Agreement... Will It Strengthen the Implementation of the Military Agreement?

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] With the restoration of inter-Korean communication lines, evaluations suggest an increased possibility of resuming dialogue between the South and North, as well as the potential for military talks. The two Koreas have not held follow-up military talks since the 10th General-level Meeting on October 26, 2018, one month after signing the military agreement.

On the 27th, Park Soo-hyun, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, announced, "At 10 a.m. on the 27th, South and North Korea agreed to restore the previously severed inter-Korean communication lines and conducted an initial call."

The Ministry of National Defense has stated its intention to regularize military talks between the two Koreas. After the 8th inter-Korean general-level military talks, former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo agreed to conduct ad hoc communications daily at 4 p.m. However, until June 2019, the communication rate between the two Koreas was less than 14%. The South Korean government maintains that military talks are intended to discuss building military trust, including the schedule of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, but since North Korea refused to connect military communication lines from June 2020, discussions were impossible.

Starting today, military authorities plan to check call quality and exchange test faxes with the North at 4 p.m., as they did in the morning. Before the disconnection, the South and North Korean military authorities held regular calls twice daily at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

However, the East Sea district military communication line is still being continuously attempted to be connected due to technical issues. With the restoration of channels between the South and North military authorities, there is a possibility that mutual trust measures and cooperative projects under the September 19 military agreement may regain momentum.

Currently, joint activities such as free movement in the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom and the joint excavation of Korean War casualties in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at locations like Hwasalmeori have not been implemented according to the military agreement.

The South has repeatedly expressed its willingness to the North to promptly carry out these unimplemented projects. However, communication has not progressed due to the North severing military channels. Subsequently, military communication channels such as the East and West Sea district military communication lines and the international maritime common network (hotline) between naval vessels became completely unresponsive due to the North's lack of response.

Notably, although North Korea abruptly canceled the announced military actions against the South, including deploying troops to the Kaesong Industrial Complex in June last year, it did not restore the military communication lines. This has been interpreted as unresolved emotional resentment from North Korea, which regarded South Korea's leaflet distribution as a "hostile act."

In the same year, South Korea requested reactivation of the military communication lines to negotiate a joint investigation into the shooting death of a missing public official under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, but the North did not respond. South Korea made calls using the communication lines, but they were in an "off" state.

Before the disconnection, the South and North Korean military authorities used the East and West Sea district military communication lines to conduct regular calls twice daily at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The West Sea district military communication line was used as a channel to send North Korea notification letters from the South.

Each of the West Sea and East Sea districts has three communication lines established. After agreeing on September 17, 2002, to install communication lines between the South and North military situation rooms, the lines were installed in the West Sea district on September 24 of the same year and in the East Sea district on December 5 of the following year. The communication lines, which are optical cables, consist of one direct telephone line, one facsimile line, and one backup line. On December 22, 2009, construction was completed to connect the East and West Sea district optical cable communication networks.

North Korea cut off the East Sea district communication line on May 31, 2011, and closed the Kumgangsan district communication liaison office. Subsequently, in 2010, the East Sea district communication line was severed due to a forest fire in the East Sea region but was restored in 2018.