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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reopened a maritime communication channel on Sunday, with vessels from the two countries making radio contact for the first time in a decade, the ROK's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

A DPRK patrol boat responded immediately when the ROK Navy contacted it via an international radio channel at 9 a.m. Sunday at sea, normalizing the maritime communication channel for the first time in 10 years, according to the ministry.
Colonel-level military officials of the two Koreas meet at the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine office in Paju, just south of the inter-Korean border, June 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
The connection came after the working-level talks were held between the two on the ROK side of the inter-Korean transit office in which Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to restore military communications channels soon.
During the talks, the two sides shared a view that it would be more urgent than anything else to restore communication lines to implement the agreement on military affairs under the Panmunjom Declaration.
Maritime communication was severed in May 2008 when the DPRK stopped responding to all the ROK's calls made via the global merchant marine communication network, the ministry added.