North and South Korea Avoid War

North and South Korea have reached an agreement to defuse tensions on their border after they reached their highest level in years.

The New York Times reports that South Korea will stop blaring propaganda from a series of speakers it has set up at the border while North Korea has said it will lower the readiness of its armed forces, which were previously at one of their highest levels.

North Korea also said it was remorseful about two South Korean soldiers who were maimed by landmines. Both countries also said they would resume ceremonies where families who have been separated by the conflict, which is now more than 60 years old. The fighting lasted from 1950 to 1953, but no formal peace treaty has ever been signed. The last time such a ceremony was held was February 2014.

The reunions will take place the weekend of September 27, which is the time of a harvest festival where families are celebrated, much like Thanksgiving in the United States. There are nearly 70,000 South Koreans on a waiting list hoping to make the cut to attend such a ceremony. As the North is notoriously closed and mysterious, it is unclear how many North Koreans would like to be reunited with their families.

Both countries also promised they would hold meetings in a capital of theirs that is still undetermined. They also pledged to increase exchanges between non-governmental groups, such as student or trade organizations.

Tensions erupted after the aforementioned soldiers were injured. South Korea blamed the North for placing the mines recently, and the South thus resumed its propaganda efforts, which it had stopped more than a decade ago.

As tensions rose, both sides exchanged barrages of artillery fire, but high-level negotiations that had teetered on the brink of failure were eventually successful.