500 reunion candidates from SK announced
Print Edition
South Korea’s Red Cross yesterday announced a list of 500 potential candidates for reunions next month with their North Korean relatives separated for decades by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The list, which was generated by a computer taking age and family background into account, was released a day after the two Koreas agreed to go ahead with the first family reunions in three years.
The reunion program was suspended after North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean border island in November 2010, and its resumption marks a symbolic but important step.
The reunions will be held on September 25-30 at North ’s Mount Kumgang resort.
South Korean Red Cross chief Ko Kyung-Suk said his office would speed up the selection of the final 100 candidates, citing the tight schedule.
The 500 candidates will be shortened to 250 by Thursday after interviews and medicals, with the final 100 announced on September 16.
The push to restart the reunions was initiated last week by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, who urged Pyongyang to “open its heart” and agree to kickstart the program in time for next month’s Chuseok holiday — when Korean families traditionally gather together.
Millions of Koreans were left separated by the Korean War, which sealed the peninsula’s division. Most have died without having had a chance to reunite with family members last seen six decades ago.
About 72,000 South Koreans — nearly half aged over 80 — joined a waiting list for a chance to join the highly sought-after family reunion events, which select only up to a few hundred participants each time.
At the emotional, often tearful reunions, North and South Koreans typically meet in North Korea for two or three days before the South Koreans head home again.
The program began in 2000 following an historic inter-Korean summit. Sporadic events since then have seen 17,000 relatives briefly reunited.
The last meeting was in 2010, before North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong island.
Inter-Korean relations have showed signs of improving recently after months of heightened military tensions that followed North Korea’s nuclear test in February.
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