Direct hotline set up for North, South Korea presidents

The high-level line of communication was tested Friday.

April 20, 2018, 11:04 AM

SEOUL -- A direct hotline has been set up between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

A test call was made Friday between Seoul's presidential office and Pyongyang's State Affairs Commission.

PHOTO: A South Korean marine soldier passes by a TV screen showing file footage of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, April 18, 2018.
A South Korean marine soldier passes by a TV screen showing file footage of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, April 18, 2018. North and South Korea have agreed to allow live television broadcasts for parts of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in next week.
Ahn Young-joon/AP

The two sides checked connections and talked about weather, according to the South's presidential Blue House.

The two leaders did not talk on Friday.

PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, shakes hands with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong after Chung gave Kim the letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 5, 2018.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, shakes hands with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong after Chung gave Kim the letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 5, 2018.
Korea News Service via AP, File

Their first conversation using the hotline is expected soon, sometime before next Friday.

That's when the two will meet in person for the first time at the historic summit to take place at the truce village of Panmunjom at the border.

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