TOKYO (Sputnik) — South and North Korea agreed to hold high-level talks on Saturday to help resolve the crisis between Pyongyang and Seoul, a representative of the presidential administration of South Korea said in a televised address.
The negotiations are due to start at 6 p.m. local time [9:00 GMT] in Panmunjom, the demilitarized zone and de facto border between the two Koreas.
The tensions between the two states escalated on Thursday, as North Korea reportedly fired shells at a South Korean military base across the demilitarized zone. Seoul was quick to retaliate with dozens of heavy artillery rounds.
The episode was the first major armed confrontation between the neighbors in five years, and came in the wake of Seoul’s resumed broadcasting of military propaganda over the border toward North Korea, a practice it had suspended over a decade earlier.
Under the North Korean ultimatum, Saturday is the last day for Seoul to terminate its broadcasting.
