North and South Koreas sign agreement to resolve tensions

“It is very merciful to grab an opportunity for developing inter-Korean relations and preventing the recurrence of provocative acts through this round of high-level inter- governmental contact between the two Koreas”, Kim Kwan-jin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s chief security advisor, told a press briefing.

A South Korea’s unification ministry official said the country will make efforts to regularly hold talks with the DPRK.

The deal called for North Korea to express regret over a landmine explosion on the two countries’ shared border, an agreement for the South to stop propaganda broadcasts at midday Tuesday that the North considers insulting to its leader, talks to improve ties, and reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received a Lenovo ThinkPad and an Apple iPad as gifts from Chinese officials and the two items are on display at a state exhibition hall, according to a South Korean report filed from Pyongyang.

Under the agreement reached after marathon, top-level negotiations in the border truce village of Panmunjom, the North undertook to shift down from a “semi war state” once the South ended propaganda broadcasts across the border at midday (0300 GMT) Tuesday.

The general said he didn’t see any drastic changes to the situation on the Asian peninsula.

As of Monday, some of those ships were headed back into port for resupply, one U.S. official said, because the North Korean navy is not able to resupply while ships are at sea.

When the North’s attack was first reported earlier this month, numbers of military reservists posted photos of their military uniforms and boots on social network services (SNS) such as Facebook and Instagram with comments that they would willingly fight for the country in case of a declaration of war.

“Recent external factors, including a sharp fall in the Chinese stock market, Chinese yuan devaluation and a possible U.S. rate hike, dragged down the South Korean market”, Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong said in a market monitoring meeting.

Inter-Korean relations have been all but frozen since the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship, which killed 46 sailors, that Seoul blames on the North. Pyongyang denies responsibility.

After 40-plus-hours of talks, North and South Korea pulled back from the brink with an agreement that allows both sides to save face and, for the moment, averts the bloodshed they’ve been threatening each other with.

Seoul also placed its military services on the highest alert level after the North reportedly mobilised troops and military equipment to the border. The tours were suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard.

North Korea, through its state-run Korean Central News Agency, confirmed an agreement had been reached. The two Koreas last week even exchanged artillery fire near a loudspeaker tower on the border.

Signs of war were earlier ominous on the peninsula, with fighter jets in the sky and artillery units lining the tense North-South divide.

The South will in turn halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ – a symbolic victory for Pyongyang.

Just as they appeared to be getting nowhere, word came out, at 1am, Seoul time, that they’d announce the outcome of the talks one hour later.