SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea agreed to hold temporary reunions in August of families separated by the Korean War, officials said on Friday, a sign of improving ties between the countries.

The officials said that 100 older citizens from each country would meet with hundreds of relatives from the other side during three days of gatherings from Aug. 20-26 at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea.

The reunions, organized by the Red Cross societies of the two Koreas, will include relatives who have not seen each other since they were separated during the chaos of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

The meetings provide a rare glimpse of the personal pain that the long political divide has inflicted on families.