Moscow–Washington Hotline
모스크바-워싱턴 핫라인
A direct communications link between the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, established in 1963 in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Designed to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war, it carried text messages via teletype (later fax, now secure email) rather than voice, minimising the danger of mistranslation and impulsive misjudgment. Popularly known as the 'red telephone,' it was never a telephone line and remains a distinctive institutional legacy of Cold War crisis management.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) comprehensive history: origin in Cuban Missile Crisis, June 20 1963 Memorandum of Understanding, teletype technology, later upgrades to fax and email, list of known uses
- armscontrol.org Arms Control Association fact sheet: 1963 MOU text summary, technology details (wire telegraph via London–Copenhagen–Stockholm–Helsinki, radiotelegraph via Tangier), first use August 30 1963, subsequent modernization agreements
- golosameriki.com Voice of America 60th-anniversary retrospective: first test message, usage during Six Day War (Kosygin–Johnson, 19 messages), Yom Kippur War, Soviet–Afghan War protest, 2016 election interference warning