朝鲜半岛南北过境点在平壤切断热线后仍运作

A tense border crossing between North and South Korea was operating as usual Thursday, despite Pyongyang cutting a crucial communications link that helped coordinate passage at the border.

The North on Wednesday cut its last military hotline with Seoul, saying it was no longer necessary since "war may break out at any moment." The phone was also used to arrange passage for South Korean workers at a joint industrial complex in the North.

Pyongyang has in the past cut the military hotline, stranding South Korean workers at the complex. But workers ((such as this truck driver Park Chul-hee)) reported business as usual at the Kaesong industrial complex Thursday.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest in years, with both the North and the U.S.-backed South demonstrating their military preparedness.

In the latest show of force, the U.S. Armed Forces Korea said two B-2 stealth bombers conducted a live-fire training mission over the South Thursday. A statement said the nuclear-capable bombers flew over 10,000 kilometers from a midwestern U.S. base to the Korean peninsula, conducted the firing drill, and returned to the continental U.S. in a "single, continuous mission."

朝鲜星期三切断了与首尔之间最后的一条军方热线，并声称既然“战争可能随时爆发”，联络已无必要。这条电话热线还用于安排韩国工人过境到位于朝鲜境内的一个联合工业园区。

平壤过去曾经切断这条军方热线，使韩国工人滞留开城工业园区。但工人们说，开城工业园区星期四照常运营。

目前，朝鲜半岛的紧张气氛达到几年来的最高点，朝鲜和得到美国支持的韩国都展示在军事上做好了准备。

在最近一次军力展示中，驻韩美军说，两架B-52隐形轰炸机星期四在韩国上空执行实弹训练任务。驻韩美军发表声明说，能够携带核弹头的B-52轰炸机从一个美国中西部基地飞到朝鲜半岛参加实弹演习，行程超过1万公里，随后返回美国本土，完成了这次持续性单项任务。