Officials in Seoul say North and South Korea are to hold talks on reuniting families divided by war in the 1950s.
The programme, organised by the Red Cross, has been suspended for more than a year.
The announcement that talks will resume this week is being seen as another sign of a thaw in relations, according to the BBC.
It follows North Korean envoys meeting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul ahead of the funeral of former leader Kim Dae-jung.
The three-day talks about reuniting families through the Red Cross are expected to open on Wednesday at the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea.
During the first few years of this decade thousands of Koreans were able to see their relatives face-to-face, in emotional but brief meetings.
The reunions were stopped after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year amid North Korean anger at his policy of ending unconditional aid handouts.
He has tied a resumption of aid to progress on North Korean nuclear disarmament.
Some reports say the reunion programme could begin again as early as October.
