By Joint Press Corps & Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

YONPYONG ISLAND - South and North Korean navies on Monday successfully exchanged radio communications in their first test of an inter-Korean military communication since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

During the three-hour test that began at 9:00 a.m., patrol boats from the Navies of the two Koreas used a joint radio frequency. The South and North used Halla-san and Paektu-san as their respective call signs. Mt. Paektu is the highest peak in the North, while Mt. Halla in the South.

The trial communications, in line with a recent bilateral agreement aimed at preventing accidental armed clashes at the West Sea border, marked the first direct contact between combat-ready field units of the two divided Koreas.

The Korean peninsula is the world’s last Cold War flashpoint as the fratricidal war ended in an armistice that has never been converted into a peace treaty.

With the trial contact ending in success, the two navies plan to commence regular radio contact between patrol boats of each side starting Tuesday.

The two sides also tested flag and flash signals, which will be used in case radio communications are not possible due to equipment failures or if the distance between patrol boats of the two sides is too close.

After three days of inter-Korean military talks at the North’s border city of Kaesong last week, the two sides agreed to take measures to reduce tensions along their shared border, including the stoppage of propaganda broadcasts along the 248 kilometer land border from 00:00 a.m. Tuesday.

South Korea delivered last night its farewell broadcast of the ``Voice of Liberty,’’ a radio program which had been aired for decades along the heavily fortified border.

South Korea has kept 100 propaganda billboards along the land border and North Korea has 200 of its own. They show huge signs and drawings enticing opposing soldiers to defect.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr