S. Korea continues attempts to call N.K. every day through Panmunjom hotline to no avail: official

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has been attempting to call North Korea via a cross-border communication line every morning for the past year, but there has been no response from the North, a unification ministry official said Wednesday.

Last year, the North vowed to cut off all communication lines with the South and even blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets coming in from the South.

Still, a communication line set up at the border village of Panmunjom remains active as it has a dial tone. The South has used the line to try to call the North at 9 a.m. every working day, but all calls have gone unanswered, the ministry official said.

"Regardless of what North Korea's response is, we continue to send a signal at 9 a.m. every day as part of the officer's basic duties and based on the view that the channel for the two Koreas must remain open," the official said.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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