The DPRK has agreed to return the first batch of up to 55 sets of remains believed to be of American soldiers killed in the Korean War. Citing a US official, a US newspaper said the DPRK had agreed to allow the US to fly the remains out of the country this week.

Meanwhile, table tennis players from the north and south of Korea are playing together in an international tournament. Our correspondent Jack Barton has more on this latest act of sporting diplomacy.

JACK BARTON SEOUL "The International Table Tennis Federation's Korea Open has got underway in Daejeon, which is about 160 kilometres south of the capital Seoul. And for the first time the DPRK has sent 16 athletes to attend the event in South Korea. They are competing as part of an inter-Korean team that includes men's, women's and mixed doubles teams and judging by comments we've been hearing for some South Korean athletes they are hoping for some success and this isn't without precedent, this will be the third time there has been an inter-Korean table tennis team.

Back in May, the second time, we saw the women's doubles team take out the bronze in Sweden and in 1991 the women's doubles team caused a surprise upset by defeating defending champion China.

It's all part of growing soft diplomacy we are seeing between Pyongyang and Seoul and not just in sports. There has been cooperation in areas from forestry and planned family reunions to art troupes, even DPRK movies in a film festival currently underway in South Korea, but it has really been sports that has been the driving force in diplomacy ever since the Winter Olympics.

They can't talk about economic cooperation because of the sanctions and Pyongyang and Washington are focusing on the denuclearization talks so these are the areas where Pyongyang and Seoul can really cooperate and they see it as assisting that broader process.

The Korea open runs until the 22nd, with the main knockout rounds on Thursday, and this is all seen as really a practice run for another area of inter-Korean cooperation which is the upcoming Asia Games in Indonesia where the two Koreas will be fielding unified teams in some, though not all, events, including a joint marching team in the opening. Jack Barton, CGTN, Seoul."