N. Korea cuts last military hotline to south

SEOUL, South Korea -- Raising tensions with South Korea yet again, North Korea cut its last military hotline with Seoul on Wednesday, saying there was no need to continue military communications in a situation "where a war may break out at any moment."

The hotline, a dedicated telephone link between the two militaries, was used mainly to arrange crossings of the heavily armed border for South Koreans who work at the Kaesong industrial complex in the North. When the connection was last severed, in 2009, some workers were stranded in the North.

Normal direct telephone communications do not exist between the two countries.

The shutdown of the hotline is the latest of many threats and provocative actions from North Korea, which is angry over U.S.-South Korean military drills and recent UN sanctions punishing it for its Feb. 12 nuclear test.

North Korea recently also cut a Red Cross hotline with South Korea and another with the U.S.-led United Nations command at the border between the Koreas.

Outside North Korea, Pyongyang's actions are seen in part as an effort to revive dormant diplomatic talks to wrest outside aid, and to strengthen internal loyalty to young leader Kim Jong Un and build up his military credentials.

Seoul's Unification Ministry, which is in charge of relations with the North, called the move an "unhelpful measure for the safe operation of the Kaesong complex." The ministry said only three telephone hotlines remain between the North and South, and those are used only for exchanging information about air traffic.

North Korea's actions have been accompanied by threatening rhetoric, including a vow to launch a nuclear strike against the United States. Outside weapons analysts, however, have seen no proof that the country has mastered the technology needed to build a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile.