Further talks in bid to avert war between North and South Korea

Senior officials from North and South Korea have resumed a second round of talks, which temporarily pushed aside vows of imminent war on the peninsula.

The talks restarted in the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea’s presidential office said.

The delegates failed to reach an agreement in Saturday’s marathon talks that stretched into the early hours of yesterday, and it was still unclear whether diplomacy would defuse what has become the most serious confrontation in years.

South Korea’s military reported yesterday that it had detected unusual troop and submarine movements in North Korea that indicated Pyongyang was strengthening its capacity for a possible strike.

About 70% of the North’s 77 submarines had left their bases and were undetectable by the South Korean military as of Saturday, a Seoul defence ministry official said, adding that the North had doubled the strength of its frontline artillery forces since the start of the talks on Saturday evening.