talks, marathon talks, over the weekend between top officials from north and south. under this deal, the north has expressed regret for a land mine incident that badly injured two south korean soldiers. they have also said they ll step back from this quasi state of war which was declared by kim jong-un late last week. and then the south said they ll cease their propaganda broadcasts from these banks of loudspeakers which the north threatened to take out, to target, if they didn t stop. at the same time, the two sides have committed themselves to further dialogue and also possibly to discussions about family reunions. now, the question is, of course, whether this is durable.pragmat. both sides seem to have recognized they were moving to the brink. this was an incredibly dangerous situation and they do appear to
now to breaking news on the standoff between north and south korea. after three days, talks have ended. in a statement from seoul is expected in about an hour. south korea had been demanding an apology after a land mine attack last month that injured two soldiers. north korea has denied involvement in that attack. seoul has since retaliated by blasting propaganda from speakers along the border. pyongyang demand they d stop and said friday they had entered quasi state of war. nbc correspondent ian williams joins us now by phone. and, ian, what s the latest? it seems there s no clear end in sight right now for this standoff. reporter: well, we think they have a deal, luke. the latest we re hearing at the end of these three days of marathon talks is that they have come up with some sort of deal. we don t know what is in that deal. it may well be an expression of
soon and that the north will lift its quasi state of war. they also said they would move toward setting up more meetings with reunions of separated families. on paper this would seem a great barack through after what, 43 hours of talks over the weekend an again today but i guess the health warning is i can t remember north korea having ever express read gret about anything, and it will be intriguing to see what the north s take is on this when they no doubt make their own statement tomorrow. but certainly what has been achieved or appears to have been achieved is they have diffused what was a pretty explosive situation and certainly one of the most serious crises we even seen in korean relations in
of all-out war. the meeting taking place in the demilitarized zone. it comes as the u.s. holds on to holds its am joint military exercises with the south which have long been a sore subject. kim jong-un declaring yesterday that his front line troops twwe in a quaasi state of warkim jon that his front line troops were in a quasi state of war. we ve seen this happen from pyongyang before. you reported on circumstances where they sort of saber rattled from time to time. typically that means they need either resources or food or sometimes they re frankly just posturing for an international audience. but what is different this time is that artillery exchanges you pointed out and it has people really worried about escalation and the possibility of an all-out war between the north and the south. and you no obviously the white house is watching this all
advisers of kim jong-un, officials here in the south. significant as well is appears these talks were initially at the request of the north late friday. the south said yes that we can do business with. that appears to have those talks are ongoing. this border area remains very tense. villages have been evacuated. they are in shelters tonight, bomb proof shelters. we drove down roads lined with heavy artillery in the south, ready. equally of course, north korea, kim jong-un said his army is in a quasi state of war. to unleash them if the south doesn t stop these broadcasts which they have said of course that they won t, dara. ian williams reporting from south korea.