Seoul, October 15 (RHC)-- South Korea has sent advance teams into North Korea on Thursday, ahead of next week's reunion for families separated by the Korean War. The October 20th to 26th reunion in North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort is only the second in five years.

The advance teams included 14 Red Cross officials and 11 maintenance workers who were tasked with putting the finishing touches on preparations for the meeting, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

Next week's event is the result of an agreement the two Koreas reached in August to de-escalate tensions. The upcoming reunion will allow about 100 people from each side to meet their relatives, and the oldest participants are two 98-year-old South Korean men who have daughter and a son each in the North.