North, South Korea to hold talks on family reunions

North and South Korea are to hold talks on Friday aimed at restarting reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

North Korea accepted a proposal that the talks be held on the South Korean side of the border town of Panmunjom, a spokeswoman at the Unification Ministry in Seoul said.

Pyongyang had earlier suggested holding the talks at the Mount Kumgang resort on North Korea’s coast, the site of earlier reunions.

North Korea said on Sunday that it was ready to allow contacts between divided families to take place during Chuseok, the national harvest festival, which falls on September 19.

The last round of family reunions took place in 2010. The two Koreas have allowed temporary reunions of selected divided families on a handful of occasions since a 2000 summit.

Thousands of families were divided following the 1950-53 Korean War. Contact across the border through letters, emails or phone calls is usually impossible.

The agreement to renew common humanitarian projects was seen as a further sign of a recent careful rapprochement between the two countries.

Tensions between the Koreas were raised following the North’s third test of an atomic weapon in February.