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Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

North Korea, South Korea agree to hold talks to ease military tensions

The two countries agreed earlier on Tuesday to renew the operation of a direct communication line between their military

© REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL, January 9. /TASS/. North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold negotiations between their military to ease tensions along the border, according to a joint statement adopted after the negotiations between the two countries’ delegations.

The two countries agreed earlier on Tuesday to renew the operation of a direct communication line between their military which aims to prevent the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

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North Korea completed technical work to restore the line that will start operating on Wednesday, South Korea’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung reported. Pyongyang’s representatives informed the South Korean delegation on it, he said.

The operation of the communication channel between the military of the two countries was suspended in 2013 at North Korea’s initiative. During his Pyongyang visit in December last year, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman called on the parties to restore the communication channels, including between the military, in order to lower the risk of miscalculation. South Korea and North Korea restored another special communications line in the border village of Panmunjom on January 3. On January 5, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification declared that Pyongyang had taken Seoul’s proposal to hold the first high-level negotiations since December 2015. They were held in Panmunjom on Tuesday.

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