South, North to agree on military hot line for accidents in DMZ

South and North Korea virtually agreed Tuesday to operate an emergency communications system in the event that accidental military clashes occur or emergency medical treatment is needed in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) while construction work is underway to reconnect the cross-border Kyongui Railway Line and build a new parallel highway.

The two sides exchanged a draft agreement on the common rules in the DMZ during the second round of working-level inter-Korean military talks, held at the Peace House in the southern part of the truce village of Panmunjom.

As for the establishment of the boundary for the management zones in the DMZ, they tentatively agreed to set the zones using as the basis the points connecting the railroad and the new road and the width of the railroad and road penetrating the DMZ.

The two sides differed on the question of which side of the Kyongui Line the road should occupy, but it was learned that they tentatively agreed to set the width of the left and right sides of the management zones 200-300 meters each.

South and North Korea shared the view that the joint road construction work would start in March next year, said South Korean chief delegate Army Brig. Gen. Kim Kyoung-Duck, deputy director general of the Defense Ministry¡¯s Arms Control Bureau.

The two sides also tentatively agreed to hold the third round of talks at 10 a.m. on Dec. 21 in Tongilgak, or unification pavilion, in the northern part of Panmunjom.