South, North Korea deal to reduce tension

BBC NEWS: South Korea has halted its propaganda broadcasts into North Korea as part of a deal to defuse tension.

Seoul had begun the loudspeaker broadcasts, which infuriate Pyongyang, after a landmine at the border injured two of its soldiers earlier this month.

The tensions bubbled over in a brief exchange of fire at the heavily guarded border last Thursday.

The deal was reached after the North, which initially denied planting the mine, agreed to express “regret”.

South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said the deal “could serve as an occasion to resolve all inter-Korean issues through trust”.

The late-night agreement came after marathon talks at the “truce village” of Panmunjom inside the demilitarised zone.

A joint statement from the two countries said South Korea would stop the loudspeaker broadcasts at midday on Tuesday, as North Korea had demanded.

The North agreed to end its “semi-state of war”, pulling back troops deployed to the frontline.

Both countries have also agreed to work towards a resumption of reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a recurring point of contention.