The two Koreas have reopened a direct phone line between their Red Cross offices at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

The Unification Ministry said that a call was made to the North over the line around 11 a.m. Friday to confirm the connection.

The two sides agreed to reopen the communications channel to discuss a Pyongyang delegation’s trip to Seoul. The delegation is currently in the South to pay respects to late former President Kim Dae-jung.

At the end of November last year, the North cut off the direct line linking the two Red Cross societies.