NORTH KOREA HAS reopened the lines of communication with South Korea after eight months of silence.

The non-partisan American think tank The Council for Foreign Relations has issued a memo saying that a Red Cross hotline had been set up between the two states.

However, an easy chat between the two may not be simply a matter of picking up the phone. The Council says:

Pyongyang has proposed a quick resumption of détente talks, but South Korea continues to demand that the north acknowledge wrongdoing for violent provocations.

CNN says that the South Korean Ministry of Unificiation confirmed today that communication channels had been reopened in the border area of Panmumjom. North Korea cut off the hotline on May 26 after the Cheonan naval ship was sunk in March. South Korea and international powers believed North Korea had sunk the ship but North Korea denied it.

In a separate development, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has insisted that Pyongyang must halt nuclear and missile testing prior to resuming Six Party Talks. The Wall Street Journal reports that Gates made the statement in a meeting with President of China, Hu Jintao, this week.

Gates last visited China in 2007 but said he was hoping political disagreements between Beijing and Washington would not mean he and Chinese military chiefs could not agree on co-operation. He referred to recent Chinese “demonstrations” of their willingness to co-operate in the interest of global security. The Wall Street Journal takes this to refer to reported behind-the-scenes work by China to put pressure on North Korea to step back in its recent “belligerence” towards South Korea.