Inter-Korean hotline restored in July 2021 (File)
Seoul:
North Korea has failed to respond to regular inter-Korean calls for a third consecutive day, raising tensions on the peninsula and raising concerns about stability in the region.
South Korean defense ministry officials said they contacted the north at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday through a dedicated military hotline, but the calls went unanswered. The two Koreas typically call the link twice a day, every day. Attempts to address a cross-border connection channel, which is active during the week, also went unanswered on Friday.
Tensions on the peninsula have risen following North Korea’s recent weapons tests, which were seen as a response to joint military exercises between South Korea and the US.
North Korean state media reported on Saturday that the country conducted an underwater blast test of its “Haeil-2” nuclear-capable attack drone last week. The drone flew more than 71 hours off North Korea’s east coast before its test warhead detonated underwater, KCNA said Saturday.
North Korea’s lack of response to the daily calls could be a precursor to further military exercises by the regime. In August 2017, North Korea failed to respond to the South’s request for military talks, a few days before the Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan.
The inter-Korean hotline was reinstated in July 2021, after the North ignored it for about a year in protest of Seoul activists’ pamphlet campaigns critical of Pyongyang. However, daily telephone breakdowns have not always resulted in heightened tensions. In June 2022, North Korea failed to respond to a regular hotline call, apparently due to technical glitches caused by heavy rainfall.