The New York Times says that Seoul and Washington "are separated by a deep panic gap" over North Korea, citing the two countries' different reactions following recent news that Pyongyang may have sold uranium to Libya.

The daily said Tuesday that while the United States strives to ascertain whether North Korea is crossing an invisible line concerning its nuclear activities, Seoul is struggling to simply keep the peace on the peninsula.

The paper pointed out that news that North Korea may have provided uranium to Libya was relegated to Page 2 articles on Monday for South Korea's five most influential newspapers.

The report added that the journalistic buzz in Seoul is instead focusing on today's inter-Korean military meeting, the first such meeting since the Korean War half a century ago.

The U.S. daily also said that with half of South Korea's 47 million people living within 110 kilometers of the Demilitarized Zone and 70 percent of South Korea's economy dependent in some way on foreign trade, Seoul has officially dubbed its policy toward North Korea as one of "Peace and Prosperity."