Hotline of direct dialogue between leaders of Koreas to be connected on April 20: Blue House

SEOUL - A hotline of direct dialogue between leaders of the two Koreas will be connected from Friday, the Blue House of the Republic of Korea (ROK) said Thursday.

Kim Eui-kyeom, spokesman for ROK President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing that the hotline between Moon and Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will be connected on April 20.

The test call between working-level officials of the two Koreas will be made via the connected hotline Friday, but it had yet to be decided when Moon and Kim have their first conversation through the telephone line.

The phone line will directly link the Blue House to the State Affairs Commission, the office of the DPRK leader.

Moon and Kim agreed to have their first phone talks via the hotline, before holding their first summit on April 27 at Peace House, an ROK building in the border village of Panmunjom.

The Peace House is being under renovation, which started from April 6. The construction will end Friday, according to the spokesman.

Working-level officials from the two sides planned to rehearse the upcoming summit next week at the Peace House.

Meanwhile, ROK officials who will accompany President Moon to the summit would be Im Jong-seok, chief of staff for Moon; Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office of the Blue House; Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS); Cho Myoung-gyon, unification minister; Song Young-moo, defense minister; and Kang Kyung-wha, foreign minister.

Who will sit on the dialogue table next to Moon had yet be decided as the DPRK did not list who will accompany its leader, Moon's spokesman noted.