Koreas set up data communications

Koreas set up data communications

SEOUL (AFP): The two Koreas have set up their first-ever direct data-communications network through their border liaison offices which are set to reopen next week, South Korean officials said on Friday.

Unification ministry spokesman Lee Kwan-Sei said the move had been made possible following the installation of fiber-optic cables at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone between the two sides.

"Now both Koreas are able to do high-tech data communications through computers," Lee said in a statement.

In the past five decades, a mere handful of telephone lines formed the only direct means of communication between the two Koreas, which have been technically at war since their 1950 to 1953 conflict.

A total of five data-communications lines will now help the two Koreas exchange written texts, voices and images, he said.

He explained that the fiber-optic cables included around 300 lines for telephones and one for television.