SEOUL , South Korea ( CNN ) -- A South Korean fishing boat and its four crew members were heading home Saturday after being held for a month in North Korea , South Korea 's Yonhap news agency reported . South Korean fishing boats anchored at Geojin port , Goseong , South Korea , August 1 . The Yeonan-ho and its crew were handed over to a South Korean patrol boat waiting at the sea border Saturday evening , Yonhap reported , citing South Korean maritime police . North Korean officials captured the vessel and its crew July 30 after the boat strayed deep into North Korean territorial waters , North 's Korean Central News Agency reported at the time . South Korea 's Defense and Unification Ministry said the 29-ton vessel had been returning from its fishing operations and mistakenly crossed seven miles into North Korean waters in the process , according to Yonhap . South and North Korea have remained in conflict since the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953 . The war ended in a truce but no formal peace treaty was ever signed . Rapprochement talks between the two sides hit a wall after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 . He had a tougher stance toward the North than his liberal predecessor , Roh Moo-Hyun . Tensions between the two were heightened in July when North Korea launched seven short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan . The launches came after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on May 25 and threatened the United States and South Korean ships near its territorial waters . Several steps in the past week have hinted at a thaw in relations , however . Last week , the two sides had the first high-level , cross-border contact in nearly two years . On Friday , the countries reached an agreement on future reunions for families separated for decades by the Korean War . The agreement on reunions came after three days of talks between the two sides , mediated by the Red Cross , in North Korea , Yonhap reported . Reunions will be held from September 26 to October 1 at Mt . Keumgang , Yonhap reported .
Conference for divided families to be held from September 26 to October 1 . It comes after three days of talks mediated by Red Cross . They were first cross - border contact between North and South in two decades .