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South Korea on Thursday pressed North Korea to hold regular reunions of families separated for half a century,after the two sides agreed in rare talks to host the next event this autumn.
The agreement is the latest peace overture by the communist North after more than a year of cross-border hostility.
A pro-Pyongyang newspaper published in Japan,which often reflects official thinking,said leader Kim Jong-II is determined to break the impasse in relations.
Kim envisions the reunions as a “watershed” in improving ties,Choson Sinbo said.
When three-day talks started yesterday at the North’s Mount Kumgang resort,Red Cross officials from the two countries reached tentative agreement to hold the next round of reunions around the Korean Thanks-giving holiday on October 3.
They also agreed to select 100 people on each side and locate their relatives across the border.
Tens of thousands of families have been separated by barbed wire and minefields since the 1950-53 war. There are no civilian mail or telephone services between the two countries.
The reunions,which normally last for two or three days,were last held in October 2007.
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