Koreas hold urgent talks

South Korean National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin (R), South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo (2nd R), Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea Kim Yang Gon (2nd L), and the top military aide to the Norths leader Kim Jong Un Hwang Pyong-so (L), shake hands during the inter-Korean high-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, in this picture provided by the Unification Ministry and released by Yonhap on August 22, 2015. Top aides to the leaders of North and South Korea met at the Panmunjom truce village straddling their border on Saturday, raising hopes for an end to a standoff that put the rivals on the brink of armed conflict. REUTERS/the Unification Ministry/Yonhap ATTENTION EDITORS - NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE T

SEOUL: North and South Korea sat down to urgent top-level talks Saturday, seeking some way out of an escalating crisis that has pushed both their militaries to the brink of an armed conflict.

The talks in the border truce village of Panmunjom began shortly after the expiration of a North Korean deadline for Seoul to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border or face military action.