South and North Korea agreed to hold top-level talks on Saturday as a North Korean deadline loomed for Seoul to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border or face military action.

Four high-ranking officials will meet at the border truce village of Panmunjon at 6:00pm (0900 GMT), a spokeswoman for the presidential Blue House in Seoul told AFP.

The agreement over the dialogue came just hours before the North's ultimatum on the cross-border broadcasts expires at 5:00pm Pyongyang time (0830 GMT).

The South side will be represented by Unification Minister Hong Young-Pyo and the head of the National Security Office Kim Kwan-Jin.

The North will send its military's top political official, Hwang Pyong-So, who is widely seen as leader Kim Jong-Un's number two, and Worker's Party Secretary Kim Yong-Gon, who is in charge of relations with the South.