朝鮮計劃恢復邊界熱線交流

South Korea says North Korea is planning to restore a cross-border communications channel Wednesday.

The South's Unification Ministry says the North's state-run radio station made the announcement in a broadcast earlier in the day. The channel, based in the border village of Panmunjom, located in the demilitarized zone that separates the bitter rivals, will be restored sometime after 3 p.m. local time (0600 GMT).

The reopening of the hotline is the first significant sign that both sides are ready to re-engage diplomatically after years of rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile program. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his annual New Year's Day address to call for direct talks with Seoul and to announce his willingness to send a negotiating team to South Korea before the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next Month.

Seoul responded Tuesday by offering to hold talks with North Korean diplomats on January 9, in Panmunjom. The meeting would be the first high-level talks between Seoul and Pyongyang since December 2015.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has welcomed Kim's suggestion of bilateral talks, but insists that any improvements on inter-Korean relations must occur in tandem with Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear weapons program.韓國說，朝鮮計劃星期三恢復雙方的邊界交流渠道。

韓國統一部說，朝鮮的國家廣播電臺星期三早些時候做出了宣佈。這個交流渠道位於分割南北兩方非軍事區的板門店村，預計當地時間星期三下午3點左右恢復。

朝鮮的核武器以及彈道導彈計劃引起多年來的緊張關係不斷加劇。熱線的恢復是雙方願意進行外交接觸的第一個重大信號。朝鮮領導人金正恩在他的新年講話中呼籲與韓國直接對話，並宣佈他願意在下個月韓國平昌冬季奧運會舉行之前派遣一個談判小組前往韓國。

韓國星期二做出迴應，提出1月9號在板門店與朝鮮外交官會談。這將是2015年12月以來首爾和平壤的第一次高層會談。

韓國總統文在寅歡迎金正恩有關舉行雙邊會談的建議，但是堅持說，在朝鮮半島雙方關係的任何改善之前，平壤必須首先放棄它的核武器計劃。