DPRK makes call to S.Korea via restored communications channel with no specific discussion

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- There was no specific discussion through the restored inter-Korean communications channel in the truce village of Panmunjom, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reopened the cross-border hotline the previous day, resuming the line of direct dialogue between the two Koreas in almost two years.

On Wednesday, the DPRK side made a call to the South Korean side, technically checking whether the line works.

At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday (0030 GMT), the DPRK side gave its call to the South Korean side through the restored hotline in Panmunjom, which straddles the inter-Korean land border, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

The DPRK side said via the hotline that it had nothing to tell the South Korean side and it will inform the South Korean side through the line if they have anything to tell.

The border hotline between the two Koreas were reopened in nearly two years as the DPRK cut off the line following South Korea's shutdown in February 2016 of the inter-Korean industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong in response to Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test.

The liaison office channel in Panmunjom was physically available, but the DPRK side hadn't received a call from the South Korean side.

Seoul proposed Tuesday to Pyongyang holding a senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue on Jan. 9 to discuss the DPRK's participation in the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics scheduled for February.

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year address that his country was willing to join the Winter Olympics and talk with South Korea about it. Enditem