South and North Korea have reestablished their once-severed hotlines as part of efforts by the two nations’ leaders to reconstruct stressed ties, Seoul’s presidential Blue House said on Tuesday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have traded numerous letters since April and consented to reconnect the hotlines, said Moon’s press secretary, Park Soo-hyun.

North Korea’s state news source, KCNA, additionally said all between Korean correspondence channels continued activity at 10am Tuesday (0100 GMT) in accordance with an understanding among Moon and Kim.

“The two leaders have explored ways to recover relations by exchanging letters on several occasions, and agreed to restore severed hotlines as a first step for that process,” Park said in a statement. “They have also agreed to regain trust as soon as possible and foster progress on relations again.”

KCNA promoted the resuming of the hotlines as “a big stride in recovering the mutual trust and promoting reconciliation.”

North Korea cut the hotlines in June 2020 as cross-line ties soured following a bombed second culmination in February 2019 among Kim and previous US President Donald Trump, which Moon had offered to intercede.

Moon has required a recovery of the hotline and talks, placing high trust in U.S. President Joe Biden to restart exchanges pointed toward destroying North Korea’s atomic and rocket programs.

The declaration came as the two Koreas denoted the 68th anniversary of the armistice that finished the 1950-53 Korean war. Kim honored fallen troopers and sent gifts to surviving veterans, as per KCNA.