TOKYO (Sputnik) — Seoul and Pyongyang resumed high-level talks on Sunday in a bid to stave off a possible military confrontation on the peninsula, South Korea's YTN news channel reported.
The talks were launched on Saturday and lasted for more than 10 hours. The South Korean presidential spokesman said that the talks were adjourned in the early hours of Sunday for the parties to take a pause to consider each other's positions.
The tensions on the divided Korean peninsula escalated on Thursday, as North Korea reportedly fired shells at a South Korean military base across the demilitarized zone. Seoul responded with dozens of heavy artillery rounds.
The escalation came as Seoul resumed anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along the border, a practice it suspended more than a decade ago.
The talks were agreed just hours before the North Korean ultimatum for Seoul to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting propaganda was to expire.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the Seoul-Pyongyang talks late Saturday, emphasizing the importance of the resumption of the talks.
