(MENAFN) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung announced Wednesday that all communication links with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been entirely severed, marking a complete breakdown in inter-Korean relations.

Lee said in a press conference with foreign media to mark the first anniversary of the botched martial law bid that relations between the two Koreas came to a complete standstill, given that not only was dialogue completely severed, but all communication channels, including emergency hotlines, were cut off.

The president, who assumed power on June 4 following an emergency election, committed to consistently extending peace overtures to the DPRK through measures including halting anti-DPRK propaganda broadcasts along frontier zones and reducing military exercises susceptible to misinterpretation.

Lee stressed that communications, cooperation and negotiations between the DPRK and the United States should not be restricted by South Korea's position, vowing to do his best for the creation of dialogue conditions between Pyongyang and Washington.

He noted that improved relations between the DPRK and the United States will help resolve or alleviate the Korean Peninsula issues, adding that the issue of the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills can be sufficiently discussed and considered if necessary for the creation of dialogue conditions.

The severed communication infrastructure represents the most significant deterioration in cross-border contact mechanisms between the divided Korean nations in years, eliminating critical crisis management tools designed to prevent military miscalculation.

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