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.