[USFK Forums] 2 Koreas Swap Lists for Family Reunions [Korea Times]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Sunday, March 12, 2006

2 Koreas Swap Lists for Family Reunions

The Korea Times, Friday, March 10, 2006 20:44

SEOUL (Yonhap) _ South and North Korea have exchanged lists of names for a fresh round of reunions for families separated by the land border, according to the South’s Red Cross.

“One hundred people from South Korea will be reunited with their relatives from the North on March 20-22, while the same number from North Korea will be reunited with their relatives in the South on March 23- 25,” the Red Cross said.

The oldest South Korean on the list is 93-year-old Im Hyeon-pil, who will meet his daughter and granddaughter in the North for the first time in more than five decades. The oldest North Korean is 85-year-old Li Gwang-wu, who will meet his brother and brother-in-law, both of whom live in the South.

This new round of reunions will be held at Mt. Kumgang, the North’s scenic mountain resort.

Nearly 12,000 people from both sides have been temporarily reunited with relatives from across the heavily-fortified border.

A further 100,000 in South Korea alone remain separated from long-lost relatives, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry. An estimated 4,000 to 5,000 die each year of old age.

The two Koreas have been divided since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and remain in a state of war as the fratricidal three-year war ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.


03-10-2006 20:44