North and South Korea - reunion programme resumes

Hundreds meet in tearful family reunions

Article published on the 2009-09-26 Latest update 2009-09-26 12:37 TU

South Korean Lee Jung-ho (L) cries as he meets his North Korean elder brother, who was originally from the South and was a war prisoner from South Korea during the Korean War
(Photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of Koreans on Saturday were reunited with relatives they had not seen for almost 60 years, as a humanitarian programme resumed after a two-year break.

In emotional scenes, group of 97 elderly South Koreans, including eight in their 90s and 52 in thier 80s, met 240 northern relatives at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast. They will be together for three days.

A total of 100 South Koreans were chosen for the reunion programme but three pulled out at the last moment for health reasons.

The reunion programme had been suspended for two years as ties between Pyongyang and Seoul's conservative government deteriorated.

The north has agreed to resume them as part of a series of recent peace overtures.

In a second phase, 99 North Koreans will be reunited with 449 relatives living in the South from  29 September through to 1 October.

A reunion programme began in earnest after the first summit between the two Koreas in 2000 eased tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul.

More than 16,000 Koreans from both sides have held face-to-face meetings since then, while 3,200 others have communicated through video links.

An estimated 600,000 people in the South are believed to have relatives in the North.