North, South Korea to replace copper hot line with high-speed one

Seoul - North and South Korea plan to open high-speed military hotlines next week to speed up information exchanges between the two Koreas about border incidents. "Today, we will complete the construction of the fiber-optic connection to conduct a pilot contact with North Korea's military," Won Tae Jae, a spokesman of the South Korean Defense Ministry, said.

Construction began in October to replace the aging copper hotline with a fiber-optic line, using telecommunications equipment delivered from South Korea.

The hotline is to be opened after North Korea raised tension Monday by declaring a "firing zone" in the disputed sea border, warning the South to steer clear away from the area.

North Korea has refused to recognize the Northern Limit Line, a sea border demarcated by the United Nations after the 1950-53 Korean War.

Instead, Pyongyang drew the Military Demarcation Line just south of the Northern Limit Line in 1999.