Koreas to resume family reunions

The reunions are emotional occasions

South and North Korea have agreed to revive reunions of divided families, following last week's decision to resume contacts between the two countries.

World's most heavily armed border separates the two countries

Under the agreement, 100 South Koreans will visit the North for three days from 28 April, and 100 North Koreans will make the opposite journey in the following three days.

The agreement to hold a fourth round of reunions came at the inter-Korean Red Cross contact on Saturday, and followed talks earlier this month between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean presidential envoy Lim Dong-won.

The planned exchange - initially scheduled for October last year - was called off by North Korea amid growing tensions between the two neighbours after the 11 September attacks on the United States.

'Technically at war'

North Korea agreed to accept the delegation from the South at the Kumgang mountain resort, which will be inspected by South Korean Red Cross officials next week.

Korean accord

Resumption of family reunions

Talks on economic co-operation

Work on cross-border railway

The venue in the South is still undecided, and the two sides will hold further talks to work out details.

The two Koreas have staged three family reunions for 300 people from each country since an agreement reached at a historic summit between their leaders in 2000.

In a separate development, South Korea said 24 North Koreans had arrived in the South after fleeing their famine-stricken country.

It said the defectors included workers, students and a teacher who had made their way to the South through third countries. No further information was released.

The latest defections brought the number of North Koreans to have reached the South this year to 238. Last year, a record 583 people defected.

South Korea usually refers to North Korean escapees as defectors, because the two counties remain technically at war as the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.