North, South Korea agree to hold family
reunions in October: South
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[September 08, 2015]
By Ju-min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) - Families torn apart by
the Korean War six decades ago are to reunite briefly near the heavily
fortified border of North and South Korea next month under a deal
reached between the two sides on Tuesday, according to a statement from
the South.
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The agreement to hold reunions, which would be the first since 170
families embraced in emotional scenes in February last year, follows
the negotiated end to a recent armed confrontation across the
border.
"The South and the North shared the view that we will work to
fundamentally resolve humanitarian issues," the South's Unification
Ministry said, quoting from the agreement which followed almost 24
hours of talks between Red Cross officials from both sides at the
border village of Panmunjom.
The reunions will be held from Oct. 20 to 26 at Mount Kumgang resort
just north of the border, where previous reunions have been held,
with 100 participants from each country.
Nearly 130,000 South Koreans looking for family members in the North
have registered with the government in Seoul since 1988, but only
about 66,000 are still alive, with most aged 70 or more, according
to Unification Ministry data.
Some critics say the reunion program works too slowly and involves
too few families. Many elderly people on both sides die before they
can reconnect with loved ones. South Korea seeks the reunions as a
top priority, but the North has been reluctant.
Tuesday's agreement called for more talks to pave the way for
further reunions, beyond those scheduled for next month.
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Seoul and Pyongyang have remained technically in a state of war
since the 1950-53 war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Last month, tensions boiled over into an exchange of artillery fire,
after Seoul blamed Pyongyang for land mine explosions that wounded
two South Korean soldiers. North Korea denied the accusations, and
the confrontation was finally resolved after marathon talks between
government officials.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Mark Bendeich)
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