SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday that it would reopen a military hot line with the South on Saturday ahead of the North’s widely expected missile launching early next month. The line is the only telephone link between the Koreas.  “North Korea sent us a message today saying that they will restore the communications line as of 8 a.m. Saturday,” said a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity.  North Korea had stopped responding to calls on March 9, at the start of annual military exercises by American and South Korean troops that the North denounced in a wave of belligerent language as preparations for an invasion. The exercises ended Friday.  The North says it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and April 8. Neighboring governments say the launching is a cover for testing the North’s ballistic missile technology.  The United States, Japan and South Korea have repeatedly urged North Korea to cancel the launching. They say it violates a 2006 United Nations resolution that bans North Korea from ballistic missile activities.  There was no word on Friday about two American journalists believed to have been detained by North Korean border guards on Tuesday morning. Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American, were reporting on conditions faced by North Korean refugees in China. Their Chinese guide, an ethnic Korean, was also detained.  Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: North Korea Says It Will Reopen Military Hot Line With South. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Restoring the telephone link to the South is a rare glimmer of détente ahead of a widely expected North Korean missile launch early next month.