SEOUL, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - South and North Korea restarted a joint military hotline on Wednesday more than a year after Pyongyang cut it off, the Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said that the direct communication line, operated by the military authorities of both countries, "began normal operations today after a test yesterday".

The hotline is used for communications regarding workers and cargo from South Korea at a joint industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.

The line was suspended in May by North Korea, which blamed "technical problems."