North and South Korea deal to defuse tensions

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 (DMZ).

A joint statement from the two countries - technically at war since the 1950s - 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.

But South Korea's Defence Minister Kim Min-seok said the South would "maintain its defence posture for the possibility of another provocation".

National security adviser and chief negotiator Kim Kwan-jin said there would be follow-up talks to discuss a range of issues on improving ties but he said it was not the right time to push for a leaders' summit.