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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hailed a recent agreement with the South which aims to reduce animosity between the two countries. Two North Korean officials have been dismissed in light of the military standoff.

Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday that Kim had praised the settlement as a "crucial landmark" that put "catastrophic" inter-Korean relations back on track. The North Korean dictator credited his country's nuclear weapons for the deal, however, not the marathon negotiations.

Tensions between North and South Korea reached breaking point earlier this week when both countries threatened military action.

The standoff began after two South Korean soldiers were maimed by land mines, which Seoul claims was were planted by North Korea. The south responded by broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda through loudspeakers at the border
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Pyongyang then threatened to destroy the loudspeakers. According to Seoul, artillery fire was exchanged at the border before North Korea expressed "regret" that the South Koreans had been injured.

Interpreting the "regret" as an apology, Seoul promptly turned off the loudspeakers, although Pyongyang denies laying the mines. South Korean officials have already expressed their hope that the latest agreement in the countries' six-decade ceasefire will help improve ties. Strictly speaking, the Korean War of the 1950s ended in a truce, not a peace accord, dw.com said.