North and South Korean families divided since the Korean War said a tearful final farewell Monday, wrapping up a rare reunion that was clouded at the last by a maritime border spat.

North and South Korean families divided since the Korean War said a tearful final farewell Monday, wrapping up a rare reunion that was clouded at the last by a maritime border spat.

After three emotionally fraught days of seeking to redress more than 60 years of separation, the reunion ended on the most traumatic note of all -- a goodbye that for most of the elderly participants marked the last time they will ever see each other.

Around 1,000 relatives from both sides took part in the week-long event -- a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands wait-listed for a reunion slot.

Divided into two rounds, it was only the second gathering in five years for those torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean conflict.

The two Koreas had agreed to the reunion as part of a deal brokered in August to ease tensions that had pushed them to the brink of armed conflict.

The fact that it went ahead as scheduled had encouraged those who hoped the deal might usher in a period of detente, but the inherent volatility of North-South ties was underlined on Saturday by an incident on their disputed maritime border.

It was a minor spat, with a South Korean naval vessel firing warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that had strayed across the border and promptly returned.

But Pyongyang insisted it was a dangerous and deliberate provocation by the South that could "totally derail" the August agreement.

The accord had also envisaged the resumption of official talks between the rival Koreas, but there has been no sign to date of such a dialogue getting under way.

The latest reunion, meanwhile, ended with no commitment as to when the next one might be held.