DHAKA: North and South Korea have agreed to hold rare reunions for families separated by the Korean War, according to Seoul.

The meetings will take place in October at a mountain resort in North Korea.

The decision follows an agreement last month that de-escalated tensions sparked by a border mine explosion that injured two South Korean soldiers.

Thousands of Korean families have been separated with little or no contact since the war ended in 1953.

The highly emotional reunions of family member who have not seen one another in decades have been infrequent, and depend hugely on the state of relations on the peninsula.

The BBC’s Stephen Evans in Seoul says the reunions, which started in 1988, used to be annual but have often been cancelled in recent years as relations frayed.

The last round was held in February 2014.

BDST: 1648 HRS, SEPT 08, 2015
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