By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Two hundred separated families in South and North Korea will reunite next month at Mt. Geumgang, negotiators for the Red Cross societies agreed Friday.
According to a joint statement that came out after three days of summit meetings, 100 families each from the North and South will meet their families, and reunite at Mt. Geumgang between Sept. 26 and Oct 1.
The union will take place ahead of Chuseok (autumnal full moon harvest festival), which falls on Oct.3.
In early September, the two parties will exchange a list of families to be sought. They will search for the relevant separated family members, and then afterward finalize who will be included in the reunion.
Two facilities ― Mt. Geumgang Hotel and a reunion center near the mountain ― will be used for the gathering, the statement said.
It will be the first reunion in two years.
Many view the union as a signal from North Korea that it seeks better relations with South Korea.
In response to the U.N. sanctions against the North earlier this year, it made derogatory statements and blackmailed its neighbors.
The situation took a dramatic turn with former U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea to secure the release of two U.S. TV reporters.
South Korea followed in Clinton's footsteps, as businesswoman Hyun Jung-eun headed to the North to set free a South Korean worker who had been held for months. The Red Cross summit came following the Kim-Hyun meeting.
On the surface, the South Korean National Red Cross, an independent organization, conducts humanitarian works throughout the world. Yet, when it comes to the family reunion project, the Korean government is deeply involved.
Since 2000, a total of 19,960 people have met with their separated families through the Red Cross.