INTER-KOREAN HOTLINE RECONNECTED

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Inter-Korean communication lines cut off for more than a year were reconnected on Tuesday. Military hotlines and channels at the Panmunjeom truce village and the liaison office have all been restored after North Korea unilaterally severed them 13 months ago. North Korea also announced the reinstatement of the lines.

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​At 10 a.m. Tuesday local time, inter-Korean dialogue channel was restored.

[Soundbite] (S. Korean representative at inter-Korean liaison office) : "Do you hear me? This is the Seoul liaison office. We are very pleased to resume calls after around a year."

Phone calls were made once in the morning and afternoon through the military, truce village and liaison office hotlines, and the two sides agreed to hold regular calls twice daily. This comes some 13 months after Pyongyang unilaterally cut off the lines last June to protest Seoul's response to anti-North leaflet distribution.

[Soundbite] Park Soo-hyun(Senior Cheong Wa Dae Secretary for Public Communication) : "We anticipate the restoration will positively affect improvement and development of inter-Korean relations."

The regime also simultaneously announced the restoration of channels. The KCNA said the leaders of the two sides agreed to make a big stride in seeking reconciliation and the restored lines will have positive effects on the improvement and development of relations. But the Seoul government says a direct hotline between the two leaders has not yet been restored and needs to be further discussed.

[Soundbite] Lee Jong-joo(Spokesperson, Unification Ministry) : "We hope communication won’t be suspended again and through the restored lines, the two sides can discuss various issues and go on to implement previous agreements."

Tuesday marked the 68th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. The ruling Democratic Party welcomed the move while the main opposition bloc was more cautious, saying the restored channels should lead to communication, not one-sided courtship.