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Diplomats from North and South Korea met in the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to arrange reunions of families separated by the Korean War, Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea said on Sunday that it was ready to allow contact between divided families to resume during Chuseok, the national harvest festival, which falls on September 19.
“The issue of separated families is one of the most urgent tasks of the time,” said Seoul’s top delegate at the talks, Lee Duck Hang, quoted by Yonhap.
The talks in Panmunjom come a week after South Korean President Park Geun Hye called for the resumption of family reunions in her Liberation Day address.
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.
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