Families torn apart by the Korean War six decades ago are to reunite briefly near the heavily fortified border of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (RoK) next month under a deal reached between the two sides on September 8, according to a statement from the RoK.
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 RoK and the DPRK shared the view that we will work to fundamentally resolve humanitarian issues," the RoK'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 RoK's people looking for family members in the DPRK 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.
Agreement on September 8 called for more talks to pave the way for further reunions, beyond those scheduled for next month.
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 RoK's soldiers. The DPRK denied the accusations, and the confrontation was finally resolved after marathon talks between government officials.
