SEOUL: A South Korean team crossed the heavily fortified border to North Korea Friday for talks about restarting reunions for separated families, as tension on the peninsula showed signs of easing.
"It is an urgent task to help separated families reunite with their relatives. We must not put it off any longer," chief delegate Kim Eui-Do told journalists before crossing.
The 14-strong delegation includes two Red Cross officials and several members of Seoul`s unification ministry which handles cross-border ties.
At talks in the border city of Kaesong, Kim said they would discuss procedures for a proposed reunion and press to make the reunions a regular event.
In September last year, hundreds of Koreans had tearful reunions with relatives they had not seen for almost 60 years, as the humanitarian programme was resumed after a two-year hiatus.
Relations deteriorated sharply after South Korea accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships near the disputed sea border in March and killing 46 sailors.
The North denied involvement in the sinking and threatened retaliation for South Korean military exercises staged as a show of strength.
But the communist state this month has been making apparent peace overtures.
It returned a South Korean fishing boat and its seven crew seized a month earlier, proposed a resumption of the reunions and requested flood aid from its neighbour.
The South`s Red Cross is sending government-funded supplies worth 10 billion won (8.6 million dollars), while other private groups have also dispatched flood aid.
On Wednesday the North proposed holding military talks with the South to discuss border and other disputes.
Seoul responded cautiously, saying Pyongyang has failed to apologise for the ship sinking, but has not yet given a firm answer.
Cross-border ties became frosty after a conservative government took office in Seoul in February 2008 and linked major aid to progress on nuclear disarmament.
The South`s annual shipments of hundreds of thousands of tons of food and fertiliser to its hungry neighbour were suspended.
Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek told parliament Thursday that Seoul must consider the state of overall relations before resuming the annual shipments.
BDST: 0901 HRS, September 17, 2010
