SEOUL: Hundreds of South Koreans on Saturday held tearful reunions with their relatives living in the North as the two Koreas resumed the humanitarian project despite tensions after an exchange of fire.
The reunions, which give divided families their first chance to see one another in six decades, started mid-afternoon at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s southeastern coast, near the border, Yonhap news agency said.
“How are you, you… I could only see you in dreams,” said Kim Rae-Jung, 96, from the South, choked in tears as she touched the face of her 71-year-old daughter, Wu Jong-Hye, from the North.
“I’ve been living well here, mother,” said the daughter with tears dripping from her chin. Some 430 South Koreans crossed into the North on Saturday in a convoy of buses for the reunions.
The South Koreans from 97 families will spend three days with 97 relatives in North Korea from whom they were separated by the war. Following the Saturday to Monday meetings, another batch of 96 South Koreans will be reunited with 207 North Koreans from Wednesday to Friday at the same location.
