September 2, 2009
SEOUL (AFP) - North and South Korea Wednesday restored a military hotline in the west of the peninsula, officials said, in the latest sign of easing relations after months of tension.
Seoul's unification ministry said the hotline, consisting of phone and fax lines, was restored following a test run Tuesday.
The communications channel had been shut down since May 2008 due to what the North called technical problems.
The two sides communicated through their second military hotline in the east of the peninsula until that too was shut down by the North last December as part of tighter border curbs.
The eastern line was restored last month as Pyongyang began making conciliatory gestures towards its neighbour.
On Tuesday it lifted tough restrictions on border crossings by South Koreans visiting the Kaesong joint industrial estate in the North.
The lines are mainly used to coordinate northbound border crossings to Kaesong in the west and to the Mount Kumgang resort in the east, another joint project.
South Korea has suspended tours to Kumgang since North Korean soldiers in July 2008 shot dead a Seoul housewife who strayed into a military zone.
