Koreas to resume family reunions

Reunions will be held from August 20 to 26, with 100 participants selected from each side

North and South Korea have agreed to resume reunions for families who were separated when the Korean War sealed the border between two nations.

Millions were separated from loved ones by the 19501953 conflict, with many dying before they could be reunited.

The reunion, to be held in August, will be the first since October 2015, and comes amid a thaw in diplomatic relations on the Korean peninsula.

The resumption of the events was agreed at an April summit between the Koreas.

Officials from North and South then met yesterday at Mount Kumgang resort in the North and set a date for late August.

“The reunion will be held from August 20 to 26, and 100 participants will be selected from each side,” said a joint statement.

A mere fraction

The lucky few are just a fraction of the 57,000 people registered with the South Korean Red Cross who are separated from family members.

The 200 people who will go to the reunion will have just three days to catch up before they return to their respective sides of the border, knowing that they will in all likelihood not see those family members again.

In South Korea, hopeful participants are picked at random by a computer which takes into account their age and family background. They also sit for interviews and take medical examinations to determine if they are fit to travel.

The previous reunion, in 2015, was more expansive, allowing 650 South Koreans to visit relatives in the North.

The reunion programme began in 2000 after a historic summit between the two Koreas, and reunions were initially held every year until strained diplomatic relations lessened their regularity.

North Korea has used the reunions for political ends, demanding return of defectors in return, or cancelling the events at the last minute.

Reunion programmes are highly emotional as most wishing to take part are elderly people who are eager to reunite with their loved ones before they die. They were driven apart during the turmoil of the Korean War.

The meeting could get contentious if North Korean officials reiterate the country’s demand for the return of 12 North Korean restaurant workers in return for allowing reunions.