TALKS BETWEEN MILITARY officials from North and South Korea have broken down according to reports from Seoul.

A South Korean defence ministry official told Voice of America that the North’s representative at the meeting in the border village of Panmunjom walked out after hours of discussions following a failure to agree on an agenda for higher-level talks.

The discussions, which began on Tuesday and lasted until today, were the first since four people were killed on Yeonpyeong island in November last year.

In response to that incident, South Korea led a series of military exercises, including some with the United States,  which pushed tensions in the region to their highest level in decades.

According to Voice of America, the talks broke down after South Korea had insisted that the North must apologise for shelling the island on 23 November as well admit responsibility for sinking the South Korean warship the Cheonan last March.

The North denies any involvement in the sinking of the warship, which killed all 46 crew members, and claims that the South provoked the Yeonpyeong shelling.

Despite the talks ending, the BBC reports that the latest breakdown is not necessarily the end of the broader process of dialogue between the two nations and it is hoped preliminary meetings can be restarted.