Early Edition 18:00 Koreas agree to hold family reunions as planned

Title: Koreas agree to hold family reunions as planned High-level officials from the two Koreas met again at the truce village of Panmunjom on this Friday for the second time in just three days. The South Korean chief delegate just gave a press briefing on the results of the today's meeting at Seoul's unification ministry. For the details, we connect live to our correspondent Hwang Sung-hee at Seoul's Unification Ministry. Sung-hee, did the Koreas reach an agreement? Kim Kyou-hyun, South Korea's chief delegate for today's high-level inter-Korean talks just gave a press briefing... and I have some good news... The two Koreas have agreed to hold reunions for families separated since the Korean War as planned from February 20th to the 25th. Next week's reunions will be the first such event in more than three years and it signals a potential improvement in inter-Korean ties. The two sides were at odds over the issue... and Kim said the North came to today's meeting with its stance that the reunions and South Korea's joint military drills with the U.S. cannot take place simultaneously. At their first round of talks Wednesday - which lasted for 14 hours with no concrete results - Pyongyang had demanded that Seoul postpone the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises which begin on February 24th. Kim said his delegation consistently explained to the North it is the South Korean government's stance not to link humanitarian issues with the military drills and that holding the reunion as scheduled will be a meaningful step towards improved bilateral ties. The two Koreas also agreed to stop throwing insults at each other to increase trust. Ending cross-border slandering was part of North Korea's so-called "important proposal" to the South made last month. Today's talks, which were the first high-level inter-Korean talks in seven years, could become an opportunity to improve inter-Korean ties as the officials agreed to hold additional rounds of high-level talks in the future, although no specific date has been set. Better inter-Korean ties is always good to hear. Thank you, Sung-hee for your report. That was Hwang Sung-hee with the latest on the two Koreas' agreement to hold family reunions next week. Title: U.S. Secy. of State Kerry meets President Xi in Beijing Following up on his two-day visit to Seoul,... U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Beijing today where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.S. delegate said he had a "very constructive and positive" meeting with President Xi... on issues involving North Korea. Kerry reportedly called on China to help bring North Korea to nuclear disarmament talks. Kerry expressed hope for improved Sino-U.S. ties and invited Xi to visit the U.S. in the near future. After his meeting with President Xi, Kerry had separate meetings with other high-ranking officials, including his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Wang emphasized that Beijing and Washington need to improve their ties and "respect each other's core interests and major concerns." Earlier in his Asia tour... in Seoul... Kerry met with President Park Geun-hye and other key officials and reaffirmed that Seoul and Washington are in agreement when it comes to the denuclearization of North Korea. Title: Kerry in Seoul "Today we reaffirm our commitment to a common goal, which is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner. We are committed to go into talks only if there is a clarity with respect to the steps that need to be taken for denuclearization by the North." Washington's top diplomat had said that China "can do more now to urge North Korea to begin taking action to come into compliance with its international obligations." It was Kerry's second visit to Seoul and his fifth trip to Asia as America's top diplomat. Title: Significant acceleration of activity at North Korea's nuclear test site: 38 North North Korea appears to have accelerated excavation at its nuclear bomb testing site in the northeast of the country, but a test isn't believed to be imminent. Referring to its new satellite images, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University says North Korea likely started work last May on a new tunnel at its Punggye-ri site, where it has conducted its three previous nuclear tests, the most recent in February 2013. The institute estimates the pile of earth excavated from the tunnel has doubled over the last few weeks. The institute adds it's unlikely Pyongyang intends to use this tunnel for its next nuclear test since two other tunnels at the site appear to be complete.