RED CROSS officials from both Korean states agreed today to hold temporary reunions of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean war as they boost reconciliation efforts.

The reunions will take place at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort from August 20 to 26, Seoul's Unification Ministry said after a nine-hour meeting between officials from the two sides.

One hundred participants from each state will go to the reunions. People with mobility problems will be allowed to bring a relative to help them.

Such temporary reunions are highly emotional as most wishing to take part are elderly people who are eager to see their loved ones before they die. The families were driven apart during the war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In agreed during a summit in April to hold the family reunions on or around the August 15 anniversary of the Korean people’s independence from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II in 1945.

The two men met again in May and their two summits have opened various channels of peace talks between the countries.

They recently agreed to restore cross-border military hotline communication channels and field joint teams in some events at the forthcoming Asian Games in Indonesia.

“If we sternly separate ourselves from the unfortunate past and acquire a strong mindset for the new times, humanitarian co-operation between the North and South will flourish,” said North Korea delegate Pak Yong Il at the start of the meeting.

South Korea’s Red Cross president Park Kyung Seo expressed hope for talks that could “resolve the grief of our nation.”

The Koreas last held family reunions in 2015 before relations worsened because of North Korea’s accelerated pursuit of nuclear long-range missiles and provocative US-South Korean War games that Pyongyang viewed as a rehearsal for invasion.

Since the end of the Korean War, both states have banned ordinary citizens from visiting relatives on the other side of the border or contacting them without permission.

Nearly 20,000 Koreans have participated in 20 rounds of face-to-face temporary reunions held between the countries since 2000.