North-South Korea military hot line restored

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- North and South Korea, amid lessening tensions, reopened a military hot line Friday in advance of restarting their idled industrial complex.

The restoration of the military link on the west coast would help coordinate travel between the two sides, officials in Seoul said.

Yonhap News reported a South Korean liaison officer spoke with his North Korean counterpart over the hot line as a preparatory step to restarting the inter-Korean industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong. The facility was shuttered in April at the height of tensions between arising from North Korea's third nuclear test in February. The hot line was severed at the time.

A Red Cross hot line at the truce village of Panmunjom was restored in June.

"In contrast to the Red Cross hot line, the military one operates 24 hours a day, allowing our workers to remain at the complex for days [safely]," a Seoul government official said.

The official said the Kaesong complex could resume operations once inspection of facilities is completed.