failed to reach vs didn't reach

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anhnha

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North Korea and the US-led United Nations Command yesterday failed to reach an agreement on holding high-level talks on the sinking of a South Korea warship, the Command said.
Can I replace the phrase "failed to reach" in the sentence by "didn't reach"?
Is there any difference in meaning between them?
 

bhaisahab

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North Korea and the US-led United Nations Command yesterday failed to reach an agreement on holding high-level talks on the sinking of a South Korea warship, the Command said.
Can I replace the phrase "failed to reach" in the sentence by "didn't reach"?
Is there any difference in meaning between them?

No.
 

bhaisahab

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Could you tell me why? I don't see what is wrong here.:-?

"North Korea and the US-led United Nations Command yesterday didn't reach an agreement on holding high-level talks on the sinking of a South Korea warship, the Command said."
This is an unnatural sentence.
 

emsr2d2

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Whilst it is certainly true that they didn't reach an agreement, the phrase "failed to reach" expresses more the idea that they tried but were not successful. It's a much more negative result than they hoped for.
 
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