By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter

Two hundred family members from North and South Korea who have been separated since the Korea War (1950-53) will reunite for the next six days, starting today.

It will be the first meeting in two years after the 16th round of reunions took place in October 2007, and the first under the Lee Myung-bak administration.

A preliminary team from the South left Seoul Friday for Mt. Geumgang, the venue for the reunions.

The first three days will be a meeting between 97 South Koreans and their estranged family members living in North Korea. The other three will be meetings of North Koreans with their relatives from the South.

Individual meetings will be held at a reunion center and Onjeong Restaurant at Mt. Geumgang.

Kim Eui-do, of the Ministry of Unification, said, "We sincerely hope this meeting will help separated families, who have spent decades grieving over their lost family members."

Out of 97, nine are in their 90s, 52 in their 80s, 32 in their 70s and only 4 in their 60s, an indication that the issue of family reunification belongs to a select group.

The limited nature of the meetings is reflected in the coverage schedules of broadcasting companies. An MBC official said it plans to air programs only twice.

"Interest in the matter is now far less than what it used to be," he told The Korea Times.

Past reunions drew wider attention, he said, especially when they met for the first time, as well as when North Koreans visited Seoul.

When the reunions take place in the North, there is a high level of unpredictability, he said.

Things never proceed according to schedule, he continued, and authorities often censor broadcasting content before it is transferred to the South.

The fact the reunions are taking place is being viewed as a sign of relaxing tensions between the two Koreas. They were formally announced by the Red Cross in August.

skim@koreatimes.co.kr