Mubasher: North and South Korea on Friday agreed to resume reunions for families who were separated after the decades-long Korean War sealed the borders between the two countries.

200 families, who will be selected from huge number of applicants on each side, will be briefly reunited from 20 to 26 August at a resort in Mount Kumgang in North Korea, according to a joint statement.

The resumption of temporary reunions, which will be the first since October 2015 more expansive reunions, agreed at a summit between officials from the Koreas in April.

Later on, officials met on Friday at Mount Kumgang resort to set a date in August.

The decision came amid thawing diplomatic relations on the Korean Peninsula and among the steps promised by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un following his landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump earlier this month in Singapore.

It is worth noting that the registered number of those separated from their family members is 57,000, according to the South Korean Red Cross.

The reunion programme started in 2000 after a historic meeting between the Koreas and reunions were initially held annually, until strained diplomatic relations lessened their regularity.