Group reunions of two Koreas' war-torn families begin
- 6 years ago
1차 이산가족상봉 3시에 단체상봉 시작
The reunions... kicked off just an hour ago.
This is the first time the two Koreas have held an event like this in three years.
South Korea chose around 90 people, by lottery, out of tens of thousand of applicants.
And those people, the ones who were healthy enough to go, are in the north right now to meet their long-lost relatives.
Oh Jung-hee is one of our reporters covering the event this week.
She's near the inter-Korean border and joins us now.
Jung-hee, it's going to be an emotional week for these people meeting relatives they thought they'd never see again.
But let's start with what's happened so far and then the schedule for the rest of the day.
Devin.
The families torn apart by the Korean War are meeting each other as we speak.
Though we haven't received any footage from the reunions, it goes without saying that the sights and sounds will be highly emotional.
These are people who were ripped apart from their sons, daughters and siblings.... meeting for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Eighty-nine South Koreans with relatives in the North are at the Mount Kumgang Resort right now.
What you see behind me is basically as close as you can get to North Korea in the South, and Mount Kumgang would be far to the east from where I am.
So, the first reunion event -- the group reunion -- started an hour ago at 3PM Korea time and will last until 5PM.
All the South and North Korean families will have gathered in one big room, sitting with their relatives and sharing memories of the past.
This morning, I talked to a few of the participants, and they couldn't hide their emotions.
Some of them told me that they could hardly sleep, thinking of meeting their relatives in the North,... and others were already sad that this will be the last time they'll ever see each other.
I could also see that they dressed up very smartly for this more-than-likely final get-together.
There are actually more than 360 South Koreans in the North.
There are the 89 participants -- each with one or two relatives traveling with them.
That's nearly 200.
And the rest are support staff like medical professionals and members of the press.
After the group reunion, there will be a welcoming dinner this evening hosted by North Korea.
The rest of the day will be full of joy and tears as the families meet for the first time after nearly 70 years of separation and zero contact at all.
Devin.
The reunions... kicked off just an hour ago.
This is the first time the two Koreas have held an event like this in three years.
South Korea chose around 90 people, by lottery, out of tens of thousand of applicants.
And those people, the ones who were healthy enough to go, are in the north right now to meet their long-lost relatives.
Oh Jung-hee is one of our reporters covering the event this week.
She's near the inter-Korean border and joins us now.
Jung-hee, it's going to be an emotional week for these people meeting relatives they thought they'd never see again.
But let's start with what's happened so far and then the schedule for the rest of the day.
Devin.
The families torn apart by the Korean War are meeting each other as we speak.
Though we haven't received any footage from the reunions, it goes without saying that the sights and sounds will be highly emotional.
These are people who were ripped apart from their sons, daughters and siblings.... meeting for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Eighty-nine South Koreans with relatives in the North are at the Mount Kumgang Resort right now.
What you see behind me is basically as close as you can get to North Korea in the South, and Mount Kumgang would be far to the east from where I am.
So, the first reunion event -- the group reunion -- started an hour ago at 3PM Korea time and will last until 5PM.
All the South and North Korean families will have gathered in one big room, sitting with their relatives and sharing memories of the past.
This morning, I talked to a few of the participants, and they couldn't hide their emotions.
Some of them told me that they could hardly sleep, thinking of meeting their relatives in the North,... and others were already sad that this will be the last time they'll ever see each other.
I could also see that they dressed up very smartly for this more-than-likely final get-together.
There are actually more than 360 South Koreans in the North.
There are the 89 participants -- each with one or two relatives traveling with them.
That's nearly 200.
And the rest are support staff like medical professionals and members of the press.
After the group reunion, there will be a welcoming dinner this evening hosted by North Korea.
The rest of the day will be full of joy and tears as the families meet for the first time after nearly 70 years of separation and zero contact at all.
Devin.