Families Divided By Korean War Reunite

Hundreds of South Koreans have begun meeting family members in the north in a rare reunion event for families separated by the Korean War.




The reunion, comprising a series of meetings over a week, is being held at a mount Kumgang Resort, at the border.

Thousands of families have been apart with little or no contact since the war ended in 1953.
Nearly 400 mostly elderly South Koreans, carrying gifts of warm clothes, cash and cosmetics, crossed into North Korea on Tuesday for the rare meeting with relatives they have either never met or last saw more than six decades ago.
A fleet of buses led by four black sedans flying Red Cross flags carried the family members from a resort in the port city of Sokcho to the heavily-militarised border that has divided the peninsula – and its people – since the 1950-53 Korean War.
In a second round of reunions, from Saturday until Monday, about 250 South Koreans are to visit the mountain resort to reunite with about 190 North Korean relatives, the South’s Unification Ministry said.
North and South agreed in August to resume family reunions during talks to end a standoff that began when land mine blasts blamed on Pyongyang maimed two South Korean soldiers.
Reunions have been held sporadically since 1988 and depend on the state of relations between the two countries.
The last reunion was held in February 2014.