By Yi Whan-woo
The government will today gather the first of two groups of families scheduled to be reunited with their relatives in North Korea from Oct. 20 to 26.
The Ministry of Unification said Sunday it will invite 394 people to a hotel in Sokcho, Gangwon Province as part of final preparations for the reunions of the families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ministry will provide travel guidelines to Goseong on Oct. 20. This is a provincial town where an immigration office is set up to enable South Koreans to legally visit North Korea.
They will then cross the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) by bus and meet their loved ones at the Mount Geumgang resort before returning home on Oct. 22.
The second group of 255 war-divided family members will also meet in Sokcho on Oct. 23 for reunions planned from Oct. 24 to 26.
During their stay, the South Korean visitors will meet their North Korean relatives six times, both in private and in open space. Each meeting will last for two hours.
Each group will be accompanied by some 110 officials and 29 journalists, according to the government.
The reunions this year will take place for the first time since February 2014 amid concerns over dwindling number of the war-divided family members, who are mostly in their 70s or older.
It will also come as part of the Seoul-Pyongyang peace agreement on Aug. 25, which is aimed at ending the military standoff and easing bilateral dialogue.
The 394 members of the first group include siblings, nephews and cousins of the 96 North Koreans who applied to meet their loves ones on the other side of the border.
The two Koreas sought to select up to 200 people, 100 from each country, in relation to their accord last month, which discussed details over the reunions.
Both sides also agreed to allow those successful applicants to be accompanied by a couple of their family members from their respective homeland if they need special attention.
It remains to be seen whether the 96 North Koreans will bring their relatives, said the unification ministry.
The 255 South Koreans in the second batch are comprised of 90 elderly people who applied for the reunions. This will be the 20th round of the inter-Korean family reunions since June 2000, when the historic inter-Korean summit took place.
The government will today gather the first of two groups of families scheduled to be reunited with their relatives in North Korea from Oct. 20 to 26.
The Ministry of Unification said Sunday it will invite 394 people to a hotel in Sokcho, Gangwon Province as part of final preparations for the reunions of the families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ministry will provide travel guidelines to Goseong on Oct. 20. This is a provincial town where an immigration office is set up to enable South Koreans to legally visit North Korea.
They will then cross the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) by bus and meet their loved ones at the Mount Geumgang resort before returning home on Oct. 22.
The second group of 255 war-divided family members will also meet in Sokcho on Oct. 23 for reunions planned from Oct. 24 to 26.
During their stay, the South Korean visitors will meet their North Korean relatives six times, both in private and in open space. Each meeting will last for two hours.
Each group will be accompanied by some 110 officials and 29 journalists, according to the government.
The reunions this year will take place for the first time since February 2014 amid concerns over dwindling number of the war-divided family members, who are mostly in their 70s or older.
It will also come as part of the Seoul-Pyongyang peace agreement on Aug. 25, which is aimed at ending the military standoff and easing bilateral dialogue.
The 394 members of the first group include siblings, nephews and cousins of the 96 North Koreans who applied to meet their loves ones on the other side of the border.
The two Koreas sought to select up to 200 people, 100 from each country, in relation to their accord last month, which discussed details over the reunions.
Both sides also agreed to allow those successful applicants to be accompanied by a couple of their family members from their respective homeland if they need special attention.
It remains to be seen whether the 96 North Koreans will bring their relatives, said the unification ministry.
The 255 South Koreans in the second batch are comprised of 90 elderly people who applied for the reunions. This will be the 20th round of the inter-Korean family reunions since June 2000, when the historic inter-Korean summit took place.
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