North and South Korea step back from the brink: Seoul promises to halt propaganda broadcasts as Pyongyang expresses regret over landmine blast

Announcement follows more than 30 hours of talks after events at their heavily guarded border pushed them to the brink of a possible military confrontation

A South Korean amy soldier walks as his colleague soldiers stand guard on Unification Bridge, which leads to the demilitarized zone (AP) (AP)

South Korea has promised to halt its propaganda broadcasts after North Korea expressed regret over a recent landmine blast that maimed two South Korean troops.

The announcement followed more than 30 hours of talks after events at their heavily guarded border pushed them to the brink of a possible military confrontation in what had become one of the tensest periods between Seoul and Pyongyang in recent history.

The two sides will hold follow-up talks to discuss a range of issues on improving ties, a joint statement said.

Both sides had appeared to be in search of a face-saving way of avoiding an escalation that could have led to bloodshed, especially the North, which is outmatched militarily by Seoul and its ally, the United States.

The announcement came after the South Korean President, Park Geun-hye, said that the anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts would continue unless there was a clear apology for the recent landmine blast in the Demilitarised Zone which had injured two soldiers .

“It is very meaningful that from this meeting North Korea apologised for the landmine provocation and promised to work to prevent the recurrence of such events and ease tensions,” Kim Kwan-jin, the national security adviser to the South Korean president, told a televised news briefing.

Seoul and Pyongyang have remained technically in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean war ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned earlier this month of a “semi-state of war”. The North Korean embassy in London said in a statement that the “psychological warfare” by the “puppet military gangsters” of the South was an “open act of war”.

And last week, North Korean forces, ordered to be “battle ready”, moved heavy artillery close to their side of the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas, while South Korean troops, also on alert, were under orders to “retaliate” against any “provocation” as they did last Thursday.