**Officials from North and South Korea are holding talks on flood control measures on a cross-border river after the drowning of six South Koreans.**The meeting was requested by the South after the six were killed when North Korea unexpectedly opened a dam on its side of the border last month.
The North has reportedly expressed regret, but it is unclear whether the South will accept this as an apology.
Reunions of families separated by war in the 1950s will also be discussed.
Correspondents say the talks are a sign that dialogue between the two countries has not lost momentum, despite short-range missile tests by the North on Monday.
Lesser evil
A spokeswoman for the South’s unification ministry said Pyongyang had conveyed its regrets for the release of water from a dam across the Imjin River.
The North had said it had to discharge the water to avoid a bigger catastrophe.
The talks are taking place in Kaesong, north of the border, where South Koreans run an industrial park.
Ties between North and South Korea have been frosty since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak linked improvements in the North’s dismantling of its nuclear programmes to aid deliveries.
However, the North has appeared willing to tackle humanitarian issues, and their joint running of the Kaesong industrial plant, in recent months.
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