S. Korea, DPRK hold Red Cross talks on family reunion

Officials from South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) began talks on Friday morning on reuniting families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a possible sign of thawing inter-Korean relations.

A team of 14 South Korean officials, including two from Seoul's Red Cross, crossed the heavily fortified border earlier in the day to meet their DPRK counterparts in the border town of Kaesong.

The meeting comes after the DPRK proposed last week working- level contacts to discuss family reunions, which, if held, would be the first such event since October 2009. The South Korean delegation is expected to suggest holding the event on a regular basis for humanitarian reasons.

It also coincides with a series of apparent peace overtures from Pyongyang, as it signals its willingness to return to stalled nuclear talks and suggests military talks with Seoul. Seoul, on the other hand, recently agreed to offer rice and cement in flood aid to its northern neighbor.

The relations between the two former wartime enemies have reached the lowest level in years as Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, a charge the DPRK has repeatedly denied. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed in the alleged torpedo attack.

Source: Xinhua