2 Koreas Agree to Prepare Broad Reconciliation Plan

SEOUL — North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to draft a broad proposal for reconciliation, averting a potential controversy over nuclear weapons that threatened to scuttle the talks.

The announcement in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang was the first sign of progress after a series of meetings between South Korea’s Prime Minister Chung Won Shik and North Korea’s Prime Minister Yon Hyong Mok. They are the highest-level talks since Korea’s division in 1945.

The declaration, however, sidestepped debate that broke out earlier in the day over nuclear weapons and the presence of U.S. forces.

The north wants a nuclear weapons ban and a U.S. pullout, while the south accused the north of developing nuclear weapons and demanded that Pyongyang open its research facilities to international inspection.

Both sides said they agreed to work toward a single accord encompassing agreements on reconciliation, nonaggression, exchanges and cooperation. A joint working-level committee held an unscheduled late-night session Wednesday to begin work, reports said.

Talks were to continue today before the southern delegation returns home Friday. Officials said a fifth round of talks will be held in Seoul but did not set a date.