Koreas wrap up family reunions
Iran Press TV
Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:20AM GMT
The two Koreas have wrapped up the reunion of divided families, after hundreds of families met at a North Korean resort.
More than 350 South Koreans said a final farewell to 88 North Korean relatives at the Mount Kumgang resort on Tuesday.
The second and last round of the reunions began on February 23, a day before South Korea and the United States launched their joint military drill. The first group of family reunions took place between February 20 and 22.
Millions of Koreans who were split by war have been waiting to reunite since the Korean War ended in a ceasefire in 1953. No peace deal has been signed since then, meaning that North and South Korea remain technically at war.
Since late 2010, the two countries have held brief reunions between relatives living on either side of the border.
Some 22,000 Koreans have had the chance to briefly meet with relatives. Some 18,000 of those Koreans have met relatives in person and the remaining have seen each other by video.
Neither North Korea nor South Korea has ever allowed a second chance for their citizens to meet their relatives across the border. Both countries forbid ordinary citizens from visiting each other and even exchanging phone calls, letters and emails.
The much-anticipated reunion event went ahead despite a growing tension over the joint South Korea-US military exercise.
On Monday, South Korea and the United States launched another round of the drill on the Korean Peninsula despite opposition from the North.
CAH/HSN/HRB
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