South Korea is soon expected to begin preparations to hold video conferences for the separated families of the Korean War living across the inter-Korean border. 

After working-level officials of Seoul and Washington held consultations in the U.S. on Thursday, the South Korean foreign ministry said the meeting touched on a wide range of issues, including the fate of pending inter-Korean projects. 

The two sides are said to have reached an accord for exempting U.S. sanctions which have prevented the shipment of equipment needed for the cross-border video reunions of separated families. 

Officials, however, failed to narrow gaps on the issue of allowing South Korean factory owners' to visit the inactive Gaesong industrial park in the North.