Officials from South Korea are on their way to the North for talks that could allow divided families to meet again.

韩国官员正前往朝鲜进行两国亲人团聚商谈。

Thousands of families were separated by the 1950-53 war

After a long period of tension, reunions were halted in early 2008. The move reflects a recent improvement in relations between the two countries.

If the meetings go ahead, only a fraction of（一小部分） the thousands of families, separated by war 50 years ago, will be allowed to see their relatives briefly¹.

The talks are organised by the Red Cross and could last three days.

"Since it is a meeting being held after a year and nine months, the main topic is the dispersed² family issue," chief South Korean delegate Kim Young-chol said.

The talks are being held in the resort of Mount Kumgang on the east coast.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says that for hundreds of thousands of Koreans, separated from their relatives by war in the 1950s, time is running out.

The North and South are still technically³ at war, as a peace treaty was never concluded at the end the war.

Limited numbers

Even if talks are successful, it is likely that only a fraction of those families on the waiting list will be able to see their relatives in highly emotional but all-too-brief meetings, our correspondent adds.

In other signs of easing tension, last week North officials attended the funeral of South Korea's ex-President Kim Dae-jung.

Earlier, US ex-President Bill Clinton had talks in the North to secure the release of two American journalists.

North Korea also announced this month it will ease restrictions⁴ on cross-border traffic imposed last year amid the rising tension.

Reunions could start as early as October, but only about 100 families from the 100,000 or so searching for their relatives were likely to be involved.

In the early part of the decade about 16,000 families were briefly reunited.

The countries regularly held Red Cross talks to discuss family reunions and other humanitarian⁵ issues until late 2007.

However, the reunions were stopped after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February 2008 amid North Korean anger at his policy of ending unconditional⁶ aid handouts⁷.

He has tied a resumption of aid to progress on North Korean nuclear disarmament（裁减核武器协定）.