Seoul to Halt Broadcasts as N. Korea Shows Regret for Blast

South Korea’s president on Monday vowed a hard line as marathon negotiations by senior officials from the Koreas stretched into a third day in an attempt to defuse a crisis that had the rivals threatening war.Park Geun-hye said th...
Seoul to Halt Broadcasts as N. Korea Shows Regret for Blast
South Korean marines patrol along on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, on Aug. 23, 2015. Yun Tae-hyun/Yonhap via AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea has agreed to halt propaganda broadcasts at noon Tuesday after North Korea expressed regret over a recent land mine blast that maimed two South Korean troops, the countries announced after three days of intense talks aimed at pulling the rivals back from the brink of war.

During the talks at the border village of Panmunjom, North Korea also agreed to lift a “quasi-state of war” that it had declared last week, chief South Korean negotiator and presidential security adviser Kim Kwan-jin told a televised briefing.

Kim said the two Koreas have also agreed to resume reunions of families separated by war in September. He said the countries will hold talks to improve their ties soon in either Seoul or Pyongyang.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency also released the same details.

The announcement came after the second round of negotiations the rivals began Saturday after events at their heavily guarded border pushed them toward a possible military confrontation.

Both sides had wanted a face-saving way to avoid an escalation that could lead to bloodshed, especially the North, which is outmatched militarily by Seoul and its ally, the United States.

The announcement came after South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday said that without a clear North Korean apology for the mine attack that maimed two soldiers, the anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts that infuriate the North would continue.

South Korean army soldiers ride on a truck in Paju, south of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, South Korea, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean army soldiers ride on a truck in Paju, south of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, South Korea, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon