February has been a good month for diplomacy in Northeast Asia. After the governments of China and Taiwan met officially for the first time since 1949, in Nanjing, the governments of South and North Korea last week held their highest-level discussions in seven years.
Not only did dialogue take place, but progress was made as Pyongyang agreed to allow long-postponed reunions of separated families to go ahead. It is a tentative first step, and one that can be erased, but it is a start for the "trust-building process" that will be the foundation of better relations on the Korean Peninsula.
While the Korean War leveled both countries, much of the physical damage was repaired. The human and psychological scars are deep and unhealing, however.