美国有线新闻 CNN 时隔近两年 朝韩首次通过板门店热线联络渠道通话

First story this January 5th, the ringing of a telephone is being called a potential breakthrough between North and South Korea. There's a hotline that connects that two countries near their shared border.

On Wednesday afternoon, for the first time in almost two years, a representative from North Korea called a representative from South Korea.

We don't know much about what was said on the call. It lasted 20 minutes. South Korean officials said the two sides were just checking technical issues. But several more calls were made in the hours that followed and analysts 1 are saying this is a good sign for the two countries.

The call was made within hours of an order by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. His country's government-controlled media announced that he'd given the go-ahead to establish communications with South Korea.

And this could be because North Korea wants its athletes represented at the upcoming Winter Olympics. Those are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, 50 miles from the nation's border with the North. The games start on February 9th.

Another international event concerning the games, the United States and South Korea have agreed not to hold their cooperative military exercises during the Olympics. The U.S. and South Korea are allies, the North has repeatedly spoken out against their military drills. U.S. officials are skeptical 2 about whether North Korea really means to improve relations on the Korean peninsula. But U.S. President Donald Trump 3 reportedly told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that America supports the South Korean leader and would be willing to help in communications with the North.

Now, we're taking you to the tense border that divides North and South Korea, where a simple phone call might have changed the whole atmosphere.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere in the border village of Panmunjom is a hotline, and a settlement that spans both North and South Korea within the DMZ, one of the most heavily guarded borders on earth. It's official title, the Panmunjom communications channel, a political lifeline between the two Koreas that is still technically 4 at war.

This view from the South Korean side, the green phone to call the North, the red to receive calls from the North. Different time zones for each state above the phone, half an hour divides the neighbors and a sign that reads, South/North direct phone.

The buildings on either side of the border, where the phones are located are only about 18 meters away from each other.

South Korea says that the first two channels were connected in 1971, and they now have 33 different communication channels. But North Korea hadn't responded to them since February 2016.

The South Koreans say that they had two liaison 5 officers who called every day at 9:00 a.m. when they got to work and then again at 4:00 p.m., just before they left work. And they sat by the phone all day in case it rang.

JOHN DELURY, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: It's not a matter of who initiates 6 what, it's that they get a positive dynamic going and that's what we're seeing now. It's not about North calling South and South calling the North. The two are sending positive signals back and forth 7, and they're creating momentum 8 which can lead to some breakthroughs.

HANCOCKS: The hotline is sparking much interests, most notably 9 for its apparent use of Windows XP. South Korean officials declined to comment on that, but it is simply a means to an end.

Paul Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.