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DHAKA: North Korea has reopened a hotline to South Korea, almost two years after it was disabled on the orders of leader Kim Jong-un, reports BBC.
South Korea confirmed it had received a call from the North at 15:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Wednesday (January 3).
The North Korean leader had earlier said he was open to dialogue with Seoul and to sending a team to the Winter Olympics in the South next month.
The two nations have not held high-level talks since December 2015.
A North Korean official announced the hotline's re-opening in a televised statement.
He said the two nations would discuss the practical issues around a proposal to send a North Korean delegation to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang in February.
"We will make close contact with South Korea in a sincere and faithful manner," Yonhap news agency quoted the official as saying. He said the countries would "discuss working-level issues" about sending the delegation.
The press secretary for South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said the restoration of this communications channel was "very significant".
According to the South Korean Unification Ministry, there are a total of 33 direct lines that North and South Korea once used to communicate with each other.
This particular phone line, established in 1971, is based in Panmunjom.
North Korea has come under increasing international pressure in the past year over its nuclear weapons program.
President Moon said the North's continuing tests would be the backdrop to any new discussions about the Olympics.
At the same time as offering an apparent olive branch to the South, Kim used his speech to repeat threats against the US, saying a nuclear launch button was always on his table.
The South says it has discussed its latest steps with the US. Meanwhile, Donald Trump remains outspoken in his tweets. On Tuesday night, the US president boasted that his nuclear button was "much bigger" and "more powerful" than the North Korean leader's.
BDST: 1350 HRS, JAN 3, 2017
SI