China and South Korea should boost mutual-understanding through more public diplomacy initiatives including the economic and trade exchanges, personnel exchanges, research cooperation, the mass media and others, officials said Tuesday during the Sino-South Korea forum on public diplomacy held in Seoul.

Chang Choon didn't get much sleep as he prepared to travel to North Korea this week to see his brother and sister for the first time in more than six decades. But the anticipation of what he called the wish of a lifetime was shattered after North Korea abruptly cancelled planned reunions for families separated by the Korean War.

Every year, the trade magazine Drinks International puts out a list of the top-selling alcohols in the world, and in the category of spirits, there is one brand that more than doubles the sales of its closest competitor every year. Smirnoff, Jack Daniel's and Bacardi don't even come close. That top-seller is South Korea's Jinro soju, a clear spirit traditionally made of rice. It's about 20-percent alcohol and has a light, slightly sweet taste.

Japan and South Korea were in a festive mood over the weekend despite continuing tensions over history issues and territorial disputes. A two-day cultural exchange festival ended Sunday after participants at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo enjoyed a variety of performances by people from both countries, including traditional music, dance, and a martial arts performance.

At the end of August the U.S. and South Korea conducted their joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian (August 19-30), a drill Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for war. North Korea was notably restrained during the entire episode. Before the drills began, some North Korea watchers were concerned Pyongyang might use them to return to confrontational behavior, despite an August 14 deal with Seoul to normalize operations at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex.

North Korea has agreed to restore a cross-border military hotline with South Korea, in another sign of easing tensions between the rivals in recent weeks, the South Korean government has said. On Thursday, the two Koreas agreed at a meeting in Kaesong to restart the hotline starting Friday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said. North Korea in March shut down the telephone and fax lines used to coordinate cross-border travel to a joint industrial park in Kaesong that has since been shuttered.

North and South Korea have agreed reunions of families separated by the Korean War in 1950-53 will resume next month, officials in Seoul have said. They said 100 people from each side would meet on 25-30 September at the North's Mount Kumgang resort. It would be the first time such meetings have taken place for three years. The two sides remain technically at war because the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace deal.

If you’re a film buff, you may have heard of a Korean-made summer blockbuster that, strangely, hasn’t reached American shores quite yet. Starring a line-up of famous Western actors, some critics say Snowpiercer — Korea’s most expensive film ever — represents a potential cultural landmark. Based on a French comic book, it covers a dystopia of post-apocalyptic survivors who, living on a train that travels around the world, rebel against their repressive overlords.