Seoul, Jun 22 (IANS): North and South Korea on Friday launched Red Cross talks to discuss humanitarian issues, including reunion of families separated across their borders, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

After holding their first summit on April 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to hold the reunion around August 15.

Delegations from both sides met at 10 a.m. at a hotel in the North's scenic resort mountain of Kumgang, Xinhua news agency reported. The delegation from South came along a land route in the eastern region.

The plenary session lasted for 45 minutes.

If the reunion is held as agreed upon, the day to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, it would be the first such event since October 2015.

Other discussions would be ways to fundamentally resolve the humanitarian issues of people across the two Koreas.

The delegations were expected to discuss the examination on whether all the separated families are alive, exchange of letters, and visits by the families to their hometowns across the border.