The leaders of South and North Korea agreed Friday to discontinue every "hostile act" between the two sides as part of efforts to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War and introduce a peace treaty.

President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader Kim Jong-un vowed to push for trilateral talks involving the United States or a four-way dialogue also including China to declare an end to the fighting and replace the Armistice Agreement with a peace pact this year, according to a joint statement named the Panmunjom Declaration.

It was issued after their Panmunjom talks, reported Yonhap news agency.

They also agreed to turn the heavily-fortified the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a "genuine peace zone."

"Terminating the current state of the truce and establishing a firm peace regime are a historic task that (the two Koreas) can no longer delay," they pointed out.

They reaffirmed a commitment to strictly abiding by the existing mutual nonaggression pact.

In addition, Moon and Kim agreed to turn the waters around the tense Yellow Sea border into a "peace sea" in order to prevent accidental armed clashes.

Under the summit deal, the two sides will "frequently" hold military talks, including between their defense ministers.

They plan to have general-level military talks in May. - Bernama