Seoul, South Korea (News Today) - Representatives for North and South Korea agreed Friday to hold another round of reunions next month for families separated by the Korean war more than 50 years ago, the South Korean Unification Ministry said.
The two sides agreed to hold the reunions on October 21 and 22. They could not agree on how many families to include in the reunion, and where it should be held, the ministry said.
The North had proposed resuming the reunions, which traditionally happen around the Koreas' autumn harvest holiday. It falls on September 22 this year.
Two Red Cross officials and 14 delegates from South Korea crossed the armed border into North Korea on Friday morning to meet with counterparts, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Millions of families were separated by the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with a cease-fire, but no formal peace treaty.
About 10,000 people applied to take part in a similar reunion last year, but fewer than 200 families were allowed to participate.
Family members wept as they saw one another for the first time in decades. No mail, telephone or e-mail exchanges exist between ordinary citizens across the Korean border.
Yoon Ki-Dal, 88, of South Korea thought such a moment would never come. After leaving his son and daughters when they were babies during the Korean War, he was able to hold the hands of his North Korean children last September.
"Father, we thought you were dead," his daughter, who was in her 60s, told him, her face trembling.
The families were allowed to spend a few days together before the South Koreans had to return home.
Source : CNN
Sunday, September 19, 2010
North and South Korea agree on October family reunion
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