Family reunions for families separated during the Korean War (1950-1953) were resumed after three years and four months. An 82-person South Korean delegation had their first tearful reunions on February 20 at a hotel near North Korea’s Geumgangsan Mountain.

After leaving Sokcho, Gangwon-do (Gangwon Province), at 8:20 a.m. on February 20, the South Korean participants passed the North Korean inspection office at 11:10 a.m. They had lunch at Onjeonggak, a restaurant in North Korea near the resort, and moved to the hotel near Geungangsan Mountain at 3 p.m. to meet their long-separated family members. There were 178 North Koreans there, ready to greet them.




Most of the meeting participants are in their 80s and 90s. Among them include some South Korean fishermen who were abducted by the North in the 1970s. Some participants, due to health reasons, even rode in ambulances with medical attention just to take part in the meeting.

A second round of reunions is scheduled for February 23 to 25, when 88 North Korean participants will meet 361 separated South Korean family members.

The first family reunions were held in 1985, 32 years after the end of the Korean War. Since the June 15 Joint Declaration in 2000, a total of 18 face-to-face meetings and seven video meetings have been held to help the 22,000 members of the 4,300 divided families meet with their long-separated family members.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr