Seoul, Pyongyang May Launch Hotline Between Two Leaders This Week

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The hotline between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in may be launched later this week in the run-up to the forthcoming inter-Korean summit, the South Korean presidential office spokesman said Tuesday.

"We already have two telecom talks, and we know that the hotline will be set up by April 20. I think it will be possible to make a trial call at that time, but it is hard to say when the phone call between the two leaders will take place,” the spokesman said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated in 2017 after North Korea conducted several ballistic missile launches and a nuclear test in violation of UN resolutions.

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The situation significantly de-escalated earlier this year, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered to restore a hotline between the two Koreas. The talks resulted in North Korean athletes having been allowed to compete in the Winter Olympics, held this year in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.

In early March, a high-ranking South Korean delegation visited North Korea for talks with the North Korean leader. Upon the delegation's return, the South Korean presidential office announced that Seoul and Pyongyang had reached a historic agreement on holding the third ever summit of the countries’ leaders.