N Korea agrees to talks

(First Edition)

North Korea agreed to hold talks on Tuesday to set up the first summit between the presidents of the two Koreas, in what the South Korean government said was a 'positive sign' to ease tension on the peninsula, writes Terry McCarthy from Tokyo. North Korea's repeated refusal to allow its plants to be inspected has been pushing the two Koreas closer to confrontation over the past few months. Jane's Defence Weekly reported that North Korea was accelerating its long-range ballistic missile programme.