NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un has praised Tuesday’s agreement with the South which de-escalated a dispute that had been threatening to explode into war.

The deal reached following marathon talks in the border village of Panmunjom ended a week of propaganda broadcasts and artillery exchanges.

The official KCNA news agency quoted Mr Kim as saying: “The joint press release published at the contact provided a crucial landmark occasion of defusing the acute military tension and putting the catastrophic inter-Korean relations on the track of reconciliation and trust.”

But he said the deal was only made possible by the North’s “tremendous military muscle,” including its nuclear weapons.

Mr Kim also announced the replacement of a number of members of the ruling party’s central military commission, which had handled the stand-off with Seoul.