The two Koreas have been technically at war since an armistice ended the three-year Korean war in 1953. Since then South and North Korea have maintained shaky ties, with more than one million troops facing each other along the world's most tense border.

But the two sides made slight progress in closing the gap between them on Saturday after the two Koreas, the United States and China closed a deal on how they would go about future peace talks aimed at replacing the armistice with a permanent peace mechanism.

After four days of negotiations, the four agreed on the formation of two sub-committees one to establish peace on the Korean peninsula and the other to reduce tension between South and North Korea. ``There is still a long way to go, but this has taken us a step closer in that direction,'' a South Koreanofficial said.

North Korea, which made concessions in this round by agreeing to the set-up of the two sub-committees, said ``there is a long journey ahead'' when asked whether it was satisfied, after the deal was reached.

Stalinist North Korea had demanded assurances that the sub-committees would discuss the issue of US troop withdrawal from South Korea and the establishment of a peace treaty between Washington and Pyongyang.

Asked if North Korea's concession was an indication of change in the reclusive state's policy under the leadership of Kim Jong-Il, the South Korean official said: ``North Korea gave in because it realised that it had to. It was under pressure to ensure there was progress in this round,'' he said.

US lawmakers have said it was necessary to take tougher measures against North Korea following a missile launch over Japanese territory on August 31, and amid growing suspicions that an underground facility is being used for nuclear purposes.