Two Koreas hold talks to discuss Moon-Kim hotline

SEOUL, Apr 07 (Xinhua): South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday held a working-level talks to discuss setting up a hotline between leaders of the two countries, Seoul's presidential Blue House said.

Three working-level officials from the Blue House and the unification ministry held talks with their DPRK counterparts for about three hours from 10:00 am at Tongilgak, a DPRK building at the border village of Panmunjom.

The lists of delegations were not unveiled for security reason, according to local media reports.

The two sides allegedly discussed where and how to set up and manage the hotline between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

Moon and Kim agreed to have their first phone conversation through the established hotline before their first summit on April 27 at Peace House, a South Korean building in Panmunjom.

Another round of working-level dialogue will reportedly be held next week to finalize the establishment of hotline.

The two Koreas held working-level talks on Saturday to discuss the installation of a hotline between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Starting at ten in the morning, the talks lasted about three hours on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjom.

While Seoul said no further details or briefings will be given on the talks in line with an agreement with the North that everything stay under wraps until all the details are ironed out, there's speculation the line will be installed in President Moon's office in Cheongwadae and Kim's office in the Pyongyang headquarters of the ruling Workers' Party.

The installation was one of the six agreements reached by the two sides when President Moon's special envoy to the North last month agreed that the hotline is needed for "close cooperation" and to "alleviate military tension" on the peninsula.