According to BBC News, On Monday, October 4th, Seoul officials made a statement that North Korea’s and South Korea’s communication lines had been restored again, for the first time after months. This also goes for their military hotlines, that are in communication. This idea went into consideration, and ended up occuring, because they want to reduce the tension on the peninsula by having greater communication. According to Kim Jong Un, the Dictator of the Northern Peninsula, North Korea has ‘no reason to provoke or hurt South Korea.

This whole cutting of ties between the two countries dates all the way to back to 1953. Technically, they have been at war since then, and they could become active in their battles at any given point. When the peninsula split into two during 1953, no peace treaty was created, and one has not been made since. South Korea has been trying to end this 70 year long war for the past five years, but nothing has really changed until now. North Korea has really not made any effort to become peaceful with the South yet, besides the on and off communication over the decades of time. The only other form of effort either country has made was when they joined together for the Olympics in 2018. According to The New York Times, South Korea and North Korea participated together in Seoul for sports such as women’s ice hockey that year. 

North and South Korea have tried to get along over the years, and had their communication lines open for a long time. Their first extreme communication cut was in June of 2020, according to CNN. This was due to propaganda being sent across the border, which North Korea specifically prohibits even though their country is filled with their own. North Korea does not approve of any sort of news from any other country, and they are extremely strict about that. They actually reopened the lines this past July, only to cut them again until now.

Kim Jong Un, along with his sister, Kim Yo Jong, have been making statements regarding their thoughts of the new opening. Aljazeera News explained Yo Jong’s statements, explaining how she claimed she was open for talks as she dismissed a phone call from South Korean President Moon Jae-In. North Korea is saying how grateful South Korea should be for the reopening of the two. The Northern officials truly believe that the South is the issue in the situation, which has not been proven true nor false. They are even making a list of ‘requirements’ that the South would need to fulfill in order to end the ongoing war. They are now on speaking terms again which may lead to further peace in the future. North Korean officials and Kim Jon-Un as a whole are extremely unpredictable, so just about everybody is still unsure of their next moves in this situation.