A TV shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, July 27. North Korea reopened its communication channels, including a military hotline, with South Korea on Tuesday (Seoul time). AP-Yonhap

The United States welcomes the reopening of direct communication lines between the two Koreas, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday, calling it a "positive step."

The remarks come after North Korea reopened its communication channels, including a military hotline, with South Korea on Tuesday (Seoul time).

"The United States supports inter-Korean dialogue and engagement and welcomes today's announcement on the restoration of inter-Korean communications lines," the department spokesperson said in an email to Yonhap News Agency, asking not to be identified. "This is a positive step."

Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, later echoed the sentiment, also highlighting the importance of dialogue in dealing with the reclusive North.

"I will also say that diplomacy and dialogue are essential to achieving complete denuclearization and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," she said in a telephonic press briefing.

North Korea had unilaterally severed all its cross-border communication channels with the South in June 2020 to protest anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent by activist groups in South Korea.

Seoul has since revised its law on inter-Korean relations to prohibit sending of propaganda leaflets into the North, citing dangers posed to those who live close to the inter-Korean border due to often hostile reactions from the North.