2 Koreas to open modernized military hot lines

[unhappycamper]

2 Koreas to open modernized military hot lines
By KWANG-TAE KIM
Associated Press Writer
Dec 22, 4:03 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North and South Korea plan to open new, updated hot lines between their militaries next week to facilitate border crossings, an official said Tuesday.

The announcement reflected cooperation between the sides just a day after the North threatened South Korean ships with possible attacks. The hot lines serve as a key mode of communication between military officials from the two Koreas, which technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Crossings at the border mostly involve officials and workers from the South traveling to and from a joint industrial complex in the North.

The divided countries have nearly finished connecting fiber-optic cables across their heavily fortified border and will test the nine communication channels later this week before formally opening them next week, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.

The move comes two months after the South provided the North with communication equipment and other materials to help its communist neighbor modernize the hot lines.


Rest of Stripes article at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_KOREAS_HOT_LINES?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-12-22-01-48-47