2 Koreas hold talks on family reunions

South and North Korean officials met at the neutral village of Panmunjom Friday for talks on the reunion of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War. The meeting follows an agreement reached the previous day between the two sides to meet at the truce village to arrange a reunion, which would mark the first time since 2010 the separated families have gotten together. The Red Cross talks between the two sides have raised hopes the family reunion would be held around the Sept. 19 Thanksgiving. which is observed by both sides, Yonhap News Agency reported. In South Korea, there are about 73,000 people who have requested to meet with their relatives in the North, the report said. Lee Duck-hang, the head of South Korea's three-member negotiation team, said since the 1970s the Red Cross has been greatly successful in easing inter-Korean relations, which lately have been affected by tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korean chief delegate Park Yong Il also said the Red Cross talks should contribute to better relations, Yonhap said. The agreement on the family reunion issue follows an agreement earlier this month between the two Koreas to reopen their joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong, which was closed in April at the height of tensions between the two sides.