North, South Korea agree to family reunions after long negotiations

SEOUL, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- North and South Korea have agreed to family reunions after nearly 24 hours of tense negotiations – and 100 people from each side will be allowed to see their family for six days between Oct. 20 and 26.

The deal was reached in the truce village of Panmunjom on Monday, and marked the first step toward détente between North and South that was part of an Aug. 25 agreement that defused tensions at the border, CNN reported.

Before the announcement, negotiators had been locked in marathon talks that lasted two days due to a disagreement over dates. Seoul had said it wanted to hold the family reunions – involving 100 people from each side – prior to Pyongyang's Oct. 10 anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party, but the North had said no.

The agreement reached Monday is a step forward, but Yonhap reported South Korean analysts have said caution is advised until North Korea's intentions become clearer.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at South Korea's University of North Korean Studies, said that the deal reached Monday was "merely a verbal promise."

"We'll actually have to wait and see whether the reunions do take place," Yang told Yonhap.

North Korea has frequently used the reunions as leverage in its negotiations with the South and has at times canceled planned reunions to express its anger with Seoul. In past reunions, North Korean minders sat at tables and listened in on private conversations between families long separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Uncertainty prevails among South Korean family members who are able to partake in the reunions through a lottery, but South Korean analysts said North Korean commitment at the latest round of talks showed promise. In the past, Pyongyang's negotiators have stormed out of meeting to express its displeasure toward the South.