DANDONG -- Buses in the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong bordering North Korea, have introduced a Korean-language service for the first time, a local Internet news organ reported Thursday, drawing attention to the reason behind the step. 

"Dandong began Korean-language service in buses Nos. 101, 102, 103 and 106 for South and North Korean residents and Chinese-Koreans in the city, starting this month," Dangdong News Network said.

In addition, some bus stops set up bus route signs in Korean, the media said.

Local experts construed that it is a step to prepare for a possible favorable turn in strained relations between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a US air defense missile battery on South Korean soil with the recent launch of the Moon Jae-in administration in Seoul.

Dandong was formerly a favorite destination for South Korean tourists, where they can see North Korean border villages and people at close range. But the number of South Korean tourists there has nosedived since 2010, when North Korea torpedoed a South Korean naval ship, killing scores of sailors.

The experts have also taken into account the fact that the city is frequented by North Korea traders, as the reason behind the Korean-language service.

"We've introduced the service in consideration of the city's geographical characteristics to help all the Koreans here use our buses conveniently," an official at a bus company here said. (Yonhap)