Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

The Inter-Korean military communication line in the West Sea area has been completely restored. On July 17th, the Ministry of National Defense announced that the West Sea military communication line had been fully restored as of July 16th, some 29 months after it was severed following the shutdown of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex on February 11th, 2016. “Since January 9th, only voice communication via copper cables had been available. The restoration enables all functions of the line, including phone and fax functions, to work as normal,” the ministry said.

The ministry said that after consultation with the UN Security Council and the US, the Republic of Korean government had provided North Korea with a list of components for optical cable transmission equipment and faxes for document exchange in order to restore the military communication line in the West Sea area following the mutual agreement made during the 8th general-level inter-Korean military talks held on June 14th and the working-level inter-Korean military talks held on June 25th.

The ministry said that the restoration would contribute to the easing of inter-Korean tensions on the border and build trust between South and North, as part of the implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration signed between the leaders of Republic of Korea and North Korea. The ministry also said the two Koreas plan to reconnect the East Sea communication line, which had been destroyed in a wildfire, after working-level inter-Korean discussions in the near future.

By Su-Yeol, Maeng <guns13@dema.mil.kr >

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