NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un has praised Tuesday’s agreement with the South which de-escalated a dispute that had been threatening to explode into war.

The deal reached following marathon talks in the border village of Panmunjom ended a week of propaganda broadcasts and artillery exchanges.

The official KCNA news agency quoted Mr Kim as saying: “The joint press release published at the contact provided a crucial landmark occasion of defusing the acute military tension and putting the catastrophic inter-Korean relations on the track of reconciliation and trust.”