The two Koreas agreed on Friday to proceed with reunions of family members separated since the 1950-53 Korean War, easing fears that they’d be cancelled over joint U.S.-ROK military drills.

The agreement, the conclusion of high-level talks that began Wednesday, comes after the North insisted that the drills, set to start February 24, either be cancelled or postponed until after the February 20-25 reunions. The South refused, maintaining that the two issues were separate, and the apparent stalemate had left family members set to take part in the reunions worried.