남북군사실무접촉, 軍통신선 복구 논의 오전에 종료<br /><br /> Our top story this afternoon.<br />South and North Korea today held military talks at the working level... about restoring their lines of communication.<br />We're still waiting to hear the results of those talks, but our Park Hee-jun is on the line with the latest.<br />Hee-jun, what can you tell us about today's meeting?<br /><br /> Devin.<br />The inter-Korean military talks began this morning at around 10AM, Korea time,.. and ended rather quickly in about an hour.<br />They were held at the CIQ, or the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Office located in Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province,... just south of the inter-Korean border.<br /><br /> Each delegation had five members-- the South Korean delegation led by Army Colonel Cho Yong-geun,... and the North Korean delegation by Colonel Om Chang-nam.<br /><br />As you said, we're still waiting to hear the results of the discussion,... which should be revealed anytime now.<br />But the two sides are known to have discussed fully reconnecting their military communications channels in the East Sea and West Sea districts.<br /> The West Sea channel was severed in 2016 after the shutdown of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex.<br />It was restored in January for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,... but it's only capable of phone communication -- that is, verbal messages only.<br />As for the East Sea communication lines,... they were suspended in 2011 amid military tensions -- and later destroyed in a wildfire.<br />The two sides are also likely to have talked about reactivating a naval communication line, that hasn't been used for a decade.<br />These lines, once restored,... will help the two Koreas avoid possible military conflict, caused by misunderstandings.<br /><br /> The talks are part of ongoing efforts by the two Koreas to implement the Panmunjom Declaration from the April 27th inter-Korean summit, which includes reducing military tension and building trust.<br />The discussions have even more meaning as today marks the 68th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.<br /><br />That's all I have for now.<br />I'll make sure to bring you the details of the talks later. Devin. <br />
