By DPA,
Seoul : North and South Korea Wednesday began discussing reunions between divided families after an almost two-year break.
The talks, scheduled to last three days, between representatives of the Red Cross from each country took place at a holiday resort on North Korea’s east coast where family reunions have previously taken place.
“I have great expectations for family reunions this coming Chusok (harvest festival in early October),” said Choe Song Ik, the head of the North Korean delegation, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The first day of the talks was concerned with agreeing on the way the talks would proceed, a spokeswoman for the ministry of unification said.
The programme of short family reunions has been on hold for two years due to rising tensions between the communist leadership in Pyongyang and the government in Seoul.
Signs that the North Korea was ready to patch up relations with South Korea have increased recently.
At the beginning of last week, North Korea announced that it wanted to ease restrictions for South Korean tourists and divided families.
The Korean War of 1950-53 and the division of the peninsula split tens of thousands of Korean families. Postal, telephone and email contact is generally not possible for them.