Related News
Koreas give nod for family reunion
Print Edition
NORTH and South Korea agreed yesterday to hold a reunion for families separated by the Korean War — the fruit of a deal struck last month after cross-border tensions came close to boiling over into outright conflict.
The reunion would be only the second to be held in five years in North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort, with 100 participants from each side.
The two Koreas had committed themselves to organizing the event — from October 20 to 26 — two weeks ago in an accord that ended a dangerous military standoff and pulled both sides back from the brink of an armed conflict.
The fact that they have followed through by agreeing a date and venue will be seen as a further positive sign, although North Korea has agreed to reunions in the past — only to cancel at the last minute.
Seoul was understood to have been pushing for an earlier date — before North Korea celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Worker’s Party on October 10.
Pyongyang is planning a massive military parade and there has been speculation it might also launch a long-range rocket — a move that would trigger fresh United Nations sanctions and threaten the holding of the reunion. The final dates were agreed at all-night talks between North and South Korean Red Cross officials in the border truce village of Panmunjom.
The chief South Korean delegate, Lee Duk-haeng, confirmed that his side had requested a reunion at the “earliest possible date,” but North Korea demurred, citing preparations for the October 10 celebrations.
Millions of people were separated during the 1950-53 Korean conflict that sealed the division between the two Koreas.
Most died without having a chance to see or hear from their families on the other side of the border, across which all civilian communication is banned.
About 66,000 South Koreans — many of them in their 80s or 90s — are on the waiting list for an eventual reunion, but only a very limited number can be chosen each time.
The reunion program began in earnest after a historic North-South summit in 2000, and was initially an annual event.
But strained cross-border relations have allowed only one reunion in the past five years.
For those on the waiting list, the reunion selection process is an emotional roller-coaster — raising hopes of a meeting they have longed for but which, statistically, they are very unlikely to experience.
For the last event in February 2014, a computer was used to randomly select 500 candidates, after taking age and family background into account.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
