North Korea re-opens hotline with South, with Olympics and 'mutual interest' on the agenda
South Korea, which has long favoured engagement with the North, ignores Trump's aggressive overtures
Seoul — North Korea has been saying it will re-open a hotline with the South to discuss attending the Winter Olympics, forging ahead with peace overtures despite taunts from US President Donald Trump. Despite expectations, the hotline, which was cut by the North in 2016, was restored on Wednesday morning after Seoul proposed high-level talks in response to an olive branch from the North’s leader ahead of February’s games in Pyeongchang, about 80km from the border dividing the Korean Peninsula. However, it was North Korean officials who made initial contact with their counterparts in South Korea: North Korea called the hotline at 3.30pm in Seoul. Kim’s recent overtures to the South mark a rare softening in tone, as tension over its banned weapons programme has surged in recent months following a flurry of missile launches and its most powerful nuclear test yet. Seoul has responded with President Moon Jae-in’s government proposing holding talks on January 9 at the border "truce" villa...
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