Both ruling and opposition parties were united Tuesday in welcoming a landmark agreement between the two Koreas that ended the latest military stand-off and called for the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

They emphasized the importance of fully implementing the six-point deal, the fruition of days of high-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjom.

"It's fortunate (for the two sides) to produce the deal dramatically. It is a matter to welcome," Kim Young-woo, spokesman for the ruling Saenuri Party, said.

He expressed hope that South Koreans will meet their families in the North as often as possible, as the two sides agreed to arrange a related event next month.

Kim pointed out that a deal is meaningful only when it's implemented well.

"With the negotiation this time, we expect (the two Koreas) to move toward a new stage for peace and unification, not provisional peace or a phase shift," he added.

"This agreement is the result of the entire nation uniting on North Korea's provocations and the army's firm response," Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the Saenuri Party, told Yonhap News Agency.

Kim said he hoped that the two Koreas will have further dialogue in the future on various issues such as family reunions.

Family reunions are a pressing humanitarian issue on the divided Korean Peninsula, as most of the separated family members are in their 70s and 80s, and wish to see their long-lost relatives before they die.

The party's floor leader, Won Yoo-chul, also evaluated the agreement as a new turning point for inter-Korean relations.

"The agreement that came out through the four-day talks shows that both the South and the North want to build a future," Won told Yonhap News Agency.

The main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, also expressed appreciation for the inter-Korean agreement.

"It's very meaningful to resolve the pending crisis of military confrontation and protect peace through dialogue," the party's spokesman, Kim Young-rok, said. (Yonhap)