SEOUL, South Korea, May 23 (UPI) -- North and South Korea on Friday wrapped up four days of talks with an agreement on a series of measures to restart economic projects stalled over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
The last-minute agreement came after South Korea accepted the North's explanation of threats issued at Tuesday's opening session of the talks in Pyongyang, officials South Korea said.
The vice minister-level talks were on the verge of rupture after North Korea's chief delegate threatened South Korea with "unspeakable disaster," accusing it of siding with the United States in the dispute over the North's nuclear weapons programs.
South Korean negotiators demanded an apology for the remarks and threatened to leave without discussing economic exchanges that have helped North Korea get through its economic troubles.
The South Korean delegation was to return to Seoul Thursday morning but delayed their departure to revive the dialogue for fear that a rupture would upset the inter-Korean reconciliation process.
North Korea on Friday did express regret -- a rare move -- for the threatening remarks, said government officials in South Korea.
"The remark was made in hopes of avoiding such a disaster in both the North and the South," Pak Chang-ryon, the North's chief delegate, was quoted as saying.
In return, South Korea agreed to provide 400,000 metric tons of rice on credit this year to ease the North's acute food shortages, said a joint statement issued at the end of the talks.
South Korean delegates agreed on the rice shipment after winning a North Korean promise that allows Seoul officials to monitor delivery of the rice aid.
North Korea, which has suffered from chronic food shortages after years of natural disasters and failed economic policies, asked for 500,000 tons of rice aid from South Korea on the first day of this week's talks.
South Korea has demanded North Korea's reciprocal moves to ease concerns over its nuclear weapons programs, but finally accepted the North's request "on the ground humanitarianism," officials said.
The two Koreas also agreed to complete works to reconnect cross-border railways severed since the 1950-53 Korean War, which has been hailed as a symbol for reconciliation between the Cold War rivals.
The seven-point statement also said the two sides would revive the long-stalled construction of a Seoul-funded industrial zone at Kaesong, a North Korean border city, where South Korea plans to relocate labor-intensive plants such as shoe factories.
The sides also agreed to conduct joint safety check of a North Korea dam on a river running alongside their heavily armed border in order to reduce South Koreans' worries about condition of the dam.
Under the agreement, North Korea will seek to resume a tourism project in the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast that has been suspended since last month due to concerns about severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The two sides are to meet in August in Seoul to further discuss their economic cooperation.
Shortly before the agreement was signed, the North's state-run Radio Pyongyang urged the South to form a united front against the United States which is "seeking to start a war of aggression against the Korean nation."
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