North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reopened a key cross-border communication channel with South Korea for the first time in nearly two years Wednesday as the rivals explored the possibility of sitting down and talking after months of acrimony and fears of war. South Korea confirmed that it has begun preliminary contacts with North Korea on a reopened cross-border communication system. The South’s Unification Ministry says the two Koreas were communicating via the channel at the border village of Panmunjom on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Fox News reports that soldiers in North Korea’s army are being given months off at a time to scrounge around fields to find food, according to a new report that describes the dire state of the reclusive country’s food rations.