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| N Korea restores military hotline | |
| (about 15 hours later) | |
| North Korea has restored a cross-border military hotline with South Korea it severed earlier this month, officials in Seoul say. | |
| The North cut the last line of quick contact between the two in protest at a US-South Korean military drill, which it sees as a prelude to a US invasion. | The North cut the last line of quick contact between the two in protest at a US-South Korean military drill, which it sees as a prelude to a US invasion. |
| The joint manoeuvres further heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. | |
| Earlier, China's president urged the North to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. | Earlier, China's president urged the North to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. |
| The six-party talks, which also include South Korea, the US, Japan, and Russia, aim to offer aid to Pyongyang in return for the North ending its controversial nuclear activities. | The six-party talks, which also include South Korea, the US, Japan, and Russia, aim to offer aid to Pyongyang in return for the North ending its controversial nuclear activities. |
| We hope that relevant parties can consider the whole situation, appropriately resolve their differences and promote the progress of six-party talks Chinese President Hu Jintao But negotiations have been deadlocked for months because of a dispute with the US over how to verify the North's full range of past nuclear activities. | We hope that relevant parties can consider the whole situation, appropriately resolve their differences and promote the progress of six-party talks Chinese President Hu Jintao But negotiations have been deadlocked for months because of a dispute with the US over how to verify the North's full range of past nuclear activities. |
| The situation has been further enflamed by the North's announcement that it plans to test-fire a rocket early next month. | The situation has been further enflamed by the North's announcement that it plans to test-fire a rocket early next month. |
| Concerns voiced | Concerns voiced |
| The hotline, now restored, is intended as a means of direct communication at a time of high tension. It is also used to co-ordinate the passage of people and goods through the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. | |
| North Korea's missile programme | North Korea's missile programme |
| The border between the two Koreas has been intermittently closed since the communication lines were cut on 9 March - when the US-South Korea drill began - stranding South Korea workers at a shared industrial estate and badly affecting businesses there. | The border between the two Koreas has been intermittently closed since the communication lines were cut on 9 March - when the US-South Korea drill began - stranding South Korea workers at a shared industrial estate and badly affecting businesses there. |
| The North's move comes just hours after Beijing urged North Korea to restart talks on its nuclear programme. | The North's move comes just hours after Beijing urged North Korea to restart talks on its nuclear programme. |
| "We hope that relevant parties can consider the whole situation, appropriately resolve their differences and promote the progress of the six-party talks," Xinhua news agency quoted President Hu Jintao as saying. | "We hope that relevant parties can consider the whole situation, appropriately resolve their differences and promote the progress of the six-party talks," Xinhua news agency quoted President Hu Jintao as saying. |
| China has voiced its concern over the growing tensions on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's planned rocket launch. | China has voiced its concern over the growing tensions on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's planned rocket launch. |
| The North insists it is preparing to send up a communications satellite - and that any attempt to shoot it down would result in war. | The North insists it is preparing to send up a communications satellite - and that any attempt to shoot it down would result in war. |
| The US, Japan and South Korea have all expressed concerns that the North is actually planning to test-fire a long-range missile. | The US, Japan and South Korea have all expressed concerns that the North is actually planning to test-fire a long-range missile. |
| North Korea is banned from firing either device under a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting it from ballistic activity. | North Korea is banned from firing either device under a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting it from ballistic activity. |
| Tensions have been high between North and South Korea since the South's conservative President Lee Myung-Bak scrapped his predecessors' policy of offering virtually unconditional aid to Pyongyang. | Tensions have been high between North and South Korea since the South's conservative President Lee Myung-Bak scrapped his predecessors' policy of offering virtually unconditional aid to Pyongyang. |
| North and South Korea technically remain in a state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. | North and South Korea technically remain in a state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. |