Seoul, South Korea ? The two Koreas failed to agree today on a format for talks on resolving a dispute about North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

Without offering specifics, negotiators said they would pursue a peaceful end to the 9-month-old crisis.

After an overnight meeting at a Seoul hotel, South Korean negotiators settled for a vaguely worded statement while agreeing to maintain economic and other contacts with the North.

The United States, the South’s chief ally, is critical to any solution to the standoff. The two Koreas have previously issued pledges to cooperate in resolving the nuclear crisis, but a breakthrough does not appear imminent.

“The South and North expressed concern over the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and agreed that joint efforts are needed to sustain peace and safety on the peninsula,” negotiators said in a joint statement.

North Korean chief delegate Kim Ryong Song and South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun shook hands and said they “agreed to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully through an appropriate method of dialogue.”

The nuclear dispute flared in October when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted it had a clandestine nuclear program in violation of a 1994 agreement with Washington.

The United States and its allies suspended fuel shipments promised under the 1994 deal, and Pyongyang retaliated by expelling U.N. monitors, restarting nuclear facilities and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.