(CNN) -- North Korea says it will open its hotline to South Korea for the first time in almost two years on Wednesday at 3.00 p.m local time (1:30 a.m. ET). The country's leader Kim Jong Un gave the order to begin discussions on sending a North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month. It comes just one day after South Korean President Moon Jae-In called for swift measures to smooth North Korea's participation in the Games. Kim had said in his New Year's message that discussions should start "as soon as possible" about sending a North Korean sporting delegation. In the same address, the North Korean leader also boasted about having a nuclear button on his desk. US President Donald Trump appeared to inflame tensions Tuesday by tweeting that he had a "bigger," "more powerful" nuclear button than Kim's. A South Korean ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday that North Korean officials hadn't answered the South's calls on a hotline at Panmunjom since February 2016 when the South suspended operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.

(CNN) -- North Korea says it will open its hotline to South Korea for the first time in almost two years on Wednesday...
Posted: Jan 3, 2018 10:21 AM
Updated: Jan 3, 2018 10:21 AM
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