PYONGYANG: North Korea has said it will reopen a telephone hotline to South Korea, to facilitate talks on its possible participation in the Winter Olympics.
Seoul’s Yonhap news agency reported that the inter-Korean communications channel would be restored at 15:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
It comes after Kim Jong-un said he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul and to sending a team to the Games.
The two nations have not held high-level talks since December 2015.
A North Korean official announced the telephone hotline’s reopening 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 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.
“We will discuss working-level issues over our potential dispatch of the delegation,” Yonhap quoted the official as saying.
South Korea had indicated that the North’s participation in the Games would be welcomed.
In a New Year’s Day speech, Mr Kim Jong-un spoke of lowering tensions and of melting “frozen North-South relations”.
He said attending the Games would be “a good opportunity to show the unity of the people” in North Korea.
Seoul offered high-level talks in response, with President Moon Jae-in calling it a “groundbreaking chance” to improve relations.
It is not yet clear whether North Korea will accept that offer, but the opening of the hotline will allow for preliminary discussions to be held.
