PYANGONG: North Korea has reopened a hotline to South Korea, almost two years after it was disabled on the orders of leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korea confirmed it had received a call from the North at 15:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
The North Korean leader had earlier said he was open to dialogue with Seoul and to sending a team to the Winter Olympics in the South next month.
The two nations have not held high-level talks since December 2015.
North Korea cut off the communications channel shortly afterwards, refusing to answer calls, according to officials in the South.
A North Korean official announced the hotline’s reopening in a televised statement.
He said the two nations would discuss the practical issues around a proposal to send a North Korean delegation to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang in February.
“We will make close contact with South Korea in a sincere and faithful manner,” Yonhap news agency quoted the official as saying.
The press secretary for South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said the restoration of this communications channel was “very significant”. “It creates an environment where communication will be possible at all times,” he said.
According to the South Korean Unification Ministry, there are a total of 33 direct lines that North and South Korea once used to communicate with each other.
This particular phone line, established in 1971, is based in Panmunjom.
The border village, in the heavily guarded demilitarised zone (DMZ), is where the Koreas have historically held talks.
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