A file picture shows an inter-Korean military meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom in June. [Courtesy of Defense Ministry]
SEOUL -- With equipment supplied by South Korea, a military communication line using optical cables was restored Tuesday across the heavily armed border under a peace agreement signed at a historic inter-Korean summit in April to cease all acts of hostilities against the other side.
Restoring military communication lines has been a pressing issue to prevent accidental conflicts and spur cross-border personnel exchanges which require security guarantees from South and North Korean military authorities.
Through consultations with the United Nations Security Council and the United State, South Korea has provided transmission equipment for military telephone and fax lines as an exception to international sanctions on North Korea, the South's defense ministry said.
After a landmark inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two sides opened two military communications lines each on the western side and the eastern side of their border. The lines were cut off due to cross-border tensions that escalated after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011.
On the western side, the North restored a military telephone link first in January after it agreed to participate in this year's Winter Olympics in South Korea, but the fax line using optical cables remained crippled. Restoring the eastern line is more complicated because it was completely destroyed by a bushfire in 2013.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
