2nd LD Writethru: S. Korea, DPRK reach agreement after talks

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have reached an agreement after an emergency contact in the truce village of Panmunjom, Seoul's presidential office said on Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters that the two sides ended the top-level meeting at 00:55 a.m. (0355 GMT).

Kim Kwan-jin, chief security advisor to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, plans to announce the result of the marathon talks later on Tuesday, which began on Sunday, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said Kim will read the reached agreement, but he did not elaborate on what was agreed upon in the talks.

According to the written agreement cited by Yonhap News Agency, the DPRK expressed regrets over provocation and South Korea vowed to stop propaganda broadcasts using loudspeakers in front-line areas.

Kim held about 33 hours of marathon talks, which ran from 3:30 p.m. Sunday to 00:55 a.m. Tuesday after the 10-hour first session from Saturday afternoon, with his DPRK counterpart Hwang Pyong So, chief military aide to top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and DPRK's United Front Department Director Kim Yang Gon in charge of Seoul- Pyongyang relations each accompanied them to the closed-door meeting in the Panmunjom truce village inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two sides.

A South Korean news channel reported that it took the longest among the past 700 or so inter-Korean dialogues.

During the talks, the top-ranking aides repeated the meeting and adjournment, during which they reported to their respective leaders, according to local media reports.

With the second session being under way, President Park said Monday morning that unless the DPRK apologizes for provocation, including landmine blasts, and pledges measures to prevent recurrence, South Korea would keep broadcasting propaganda messages with loudspeakers and take other actions.

Seoul resumed the pro-democracy broadcasts in 11 frontline army units, which Pyongyang called a declaration of war, from Aug. 10 to retaliate against the Aug. 4 explosion of landmines that wounded two South Korean soldiers. South Korea said DPRK forces deliberately laid the mines, while the DPRK claimed it was fabricated.

On Aug. 20, the DPRK fired four shells into the southern part of the DMZ, according to the South Korean military, which shot back a barrage of 29 artillery rounds. The exchange of fire put both militaries in the highest alert.

South Korea had put troops in maximum alert, and raised the joint reconnaissance alert with the United States to the second highest. Seoul's defense ministry said Monday that the deployment of strategic U.S. military assets on the peninsula, such as nuclear-capable B-52 bomber and nuclear-powered submarine, has been under discussion.

The DPRK ordered frontline combined forces into a state of war from Friday and issued an ultimatum to stop the propaganda broadcasts until 5 p.m. Saturday or face military actions. The deadline passed without any incident as the first session of emergency contact began from 6:30 p.m. on the same day.

Despite the heightened tensions, the two sides reportedly discussed a wide range of inter-Korean issues, including the reunion of Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the lifting of sanctions imposed by Seoul on Pyongyang after the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship and the resumption of tour to the Mount Kumgang resort. Endi