Two Koreas agree to hold family reunion

Responding to the DPRK's open letter, South Korea expressed doubt about sincerity of the DPRK's recent peace overture on Friday, urging Pyongyang to accept the family reunion proposal.

As the DPRK accepted Seoul's proposal for the humanitarian event, inter-Korean relations were expected to ease.

Seoul's Unification Ministry has claimed that if Pyongyang keeps its word and builds trust with Seoul, there will be no issues that cannot be discussed between the two Koreas.

The DPRK has asked South Korea to talk about the resumption of the tour to the Mount Kumgang resort, which Seoul said should be discussed separately from the family reunion.

The two Koreas originally planned to hold the family reunion in late September last year, but the DPRK abruptly delayed the humanitarian event at the last minute.

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said on Wednesday that the DPRK failed to keep its word, citing the cancelled family reunion event last year.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that Pyongyang will create atmosphere to mend relations with South Korea.

Cheong at the Sejong Institute cautioned that it would have some limitations in improving the inter-Korean ties given the scheduled joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.

South Korean military has confirmed that it will conduct the Key Resolve and the Foal Eagle war games with the United States from late February to April as scheduled, noting that the drills were defensive in nature.

Last year, the US Air Force's B-2 stealth bombers carried out its first-ever firing drill in South Korea during the joint exercises. The U.S. military also deployed other nuclear-capable weapons such as B-52 bombers and submarine USS Cheyenne.

It was known that no US aircraft carrier would participate in this year's joint military drills in what appeared to be their efforts to minimize the possible backlash from the DPRK, which denounced the exercises as the rehearsal for the northward invasion.