Koreas agree new family reunions

The reunions are an emotional time for families

North and South Korea have agreed to hold a new round of family reunions next month.

One hundred people from each side will meet family members who were split from them by the Korean War 50 years ago.

The North was concerned over South Korean security

There was also agreement for a second round of economic talks, and a seventh round of ministerial talks to be held, although no date has been set.

The reunions had originally been scheduled for October, but were cancelled by North Korea after the South put its forces on a heightened state of alert after the attacks in the United States on 11 September.

North Korea had claimed the alert was aimed at the communist state.

Careful language

The new reunions will take place on 10 December at Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort in the North.

Delegates from both sides were meeting at the resort in talks which opened on Friday. The talks were extended by a day into Tuesday as the two sides stumbled over the nature of the South's security alert.

Both sides finally agreed on neutral language to cover differences on anti-terrorism that had stalled their discussions.

"This does not mean that the South gave in under pressure from the North," a South Korean delegate said.

The economic talks, also expected to take place next month at a venue yet to be decided, will include discussions on the connection of railway links and the South's possible food aid to the North.

The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.