South Korea is going to continue preparations for family reunions with the North - despite continued tensions with its neighbour.

The meetings of relatives separated by the Korean War in the 1950s are due to take place in October at Diamond Mountain.

North Korea has spoken about new rocket launches and nuclear tests - which would violate UN resolutions.

Reuters reports that North Korea may expect 'rewards' from the South in exchange for participation in the reunion programme, such as a reopening of cross-border tourism to the Mount Kumgang resort or 'tacit acceptance' of a Northern missile test.

The Mount Kumgang resort was a valuable source of income for North Korea, with hundreds of thousands of South Korean tourists visiting the scenic location every year. Tours from the South were suspended in 2008 after a tourist was shot dead after walking into a military zone.

It was reported earlier this week that North Korea has said its main nuclear complex is fully operational and the country is ready to face US hostility with nuclear weapons "at any time".

Its nuclear weapons are being improved "in quality and quantity", an official quoted by the state news agency KCNA said.

Last month, North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un ordered his troops to be "ready for war" with its neighbour South Korea after he blamed the South for broadcasting propaganda statement across the frontier and responded by firing a shell believed to be aimed at a loudspeaker.

Urgent talks between the two appeared to have quelled tensions and a deadline imposed by the North passed without any further attacks.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war even today.