After four days of talks the two sides managed to release a joint agreement at the end of the final session.

Seo Young-kyo(right), a member of the South Korean delegation, waits in front of an elevator as Cabinet Councilor Shin Byong-choel and other North Korean officials head for the conference room Thursday. The Inter-Korean ministerial talks are being held in Pyongyang.

But the three-line press statement only sets the date for the next high-level contact, from August 3rd to the 6th here in Seoul, along with vows to continue cross-border discussions.

Reports from the South Korean joint press corps in Pyongyang indicate the two sides remained deadlocked over defense-related issues up until the last minute and that neither side backed down from their positions.

Seoul had pushed for a general-level military exchange in May, while Pyongyang insisted that it would come to the dialogue table if joint South Korean-U.S. military drills were stopped.

Arirang TV