Family reunion schedule: Separated families finally meet on Monday
- 6 years ago
With the much-anticipated reunion only hours away, the families are already feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
Soon they will be able to share those feelings and stories with their families in the North -- faces that must've once looked so fresh and young, but now show the deep lines of time gone by.
But how much time will the families have together and what's the format?
If you aren't that familiar with how they are run,... it might not be as you expect.
Lee Ji-won reports.
The reunions starting Monday will be the 21st round ever held by the two Koreas and the first round in three years.
There are two three-day sessions, each bringing together different sets of families.
The first session runs from August 20th to the 22nd, and the second one from the 24th to the 26th.
South Korea has chosen 89 people for the first session,... and they'll cross the border on Monday along with their chaperones.
For the second session, the North has chosen 83 people, and their relatives from the South will cross into the North in the same way.
Both sessions will follow the same basic schedule.
On the first day,... the South Korean participants will arrive at North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort -- the main venue.
They'll get there by bus, entering the North through the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine office in Goseong, Gangwon-do Province.
The first reunions will take place after lunch.
For two hours in the afternoon, the South and North Koreans will finally be reunited with members of their family whom they've missed for as long as they can remember.
This will happen in a group setting in a public meeting room.
And later, they'll attend welcoming banquet... hosted in the first case by North Korea and in the second by South Korea.
On day two,... the participants will get another two-hour long reunion, this one in private.
And for the first time,... they'll get to have lunch separately with their relatives in their own rooms -- allowing for a more private experience.
Afterwards there will be another joint reunion in the public meeting room.
And on the final day, the participants will see their relatives one last time before the South Koreans head back home.
Each session gives them a total of 11 hours together,... a dream come true, but still a tragically short amount of time.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
Soon they will be able to share those feelings and stories with their families in the North -- faces that must've once looked so fresh and young, but now show the deep lines of time gone by.
But how much time will the families have together and what's the format?
If you aren't that familiar with how they are run,... it might not be as you expect.
Lee Ji-won reports.
The reunions starting Monday will be the 21st round ever held by the two Koreas and the first round in three years.
There are two three-day sessions, each bringing together different sets of families.
The first session runs from August 20th to the 22nd, and the second one from the 24th to the 26th.
South Korea has chosen 89 people for the first session,... and they'll cross the border on Monday along with their chaperones.
For the second session, the North has chosen 83 people, and their relatives from the South will cross into the North in the same way.
Both sessions will follow the same basic schedule.
On the first day,... the South Korean participants will arrive at North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort -- the main venue.
They'll get there by bus, entering the North through the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine office in Goseong, Gangwon-do Province.
The first reunions will take place after lunch.
For two hours in the afternoon, the South and North Koreans will finally be reunited with members of their family whom they've missed for as long as they can remember.
This will happen in a group setting in a public meeting room.
And later, they'll attend welcoming banquet... hosted in the first case by North Korea and in the second by South Korea.
On day two,... the participants will get another two-hour long reunion, this one in private.
And for the first time,... they'll get to have lunch separately with their relatives in their own rooms -- allowing for a more private experience.
Afterwards there will be another joint reunion in the public meeting room.
And on the final day, the participants will see their relatives one last time before the South Koreans head back home.
Each session gives them a total of 11 hours together,... a dream come true, but still a tragically short amount of time.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.