South Korea invites North for reunion talks

By NewsGram Staff Writer

To discuss the reunion of families separated in the 1950-1953 Korean war, South Korea today proposed working-level talks with North Korea on September 7.

Millions of Koreans have been separated for six decades as the Korean war ended in a 1953 armistice. The last family reunion was held at North Korea's mountain resort of Kumgang in February 2014. About 66,000 South Koreans — 12 percent of them aged above 90, are wait-listed for an eventual reunion, but only several hundred can be chosen each time.

The move came days after Koreas agreed on Tuesday to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula following a 43-hour marathon dialogue.

The reunion programme began in a summit between North-South Korea in 2000.