Members of Separated Families Begin Reunion in Seoul

Members of Separated Families Begin Reunion in Seoul

In another significant move toward reconciliation, Seoul and Pyongyang exchanged 100 people from each side by air Tuesday morning for a four-day reunion with family members separated for more than 50 years.

The family reunions for separated family members are timed with the 55th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese colonial rule on August 15, 1945.

An Air Koryo plane from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which carried 100 people, arrived at Seoul Kimpo International Airport 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) Tuesday and will return to Pyongyang with 100 South Koreans one hour later.

It is the first time for the DPRK plane to have landed on South Korean soil.

On Friday morning, the South Korean Air will bring the 100 DPRK people back to Pyongyang and return with South Koreans.

At the inter-Korean Red Cross meeting last month, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to share their aircraft in transporting the 200 people.

The two sides also agreed to discuss the opening of a permanent meeting point for institutionalizing reunions of separated families caused by the division of the Korean peninsula at the end of World War II and the 1950-53 Korean War.

The exchange of the 200 people was part of the June 15 Joint Declaration reached between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il at their historic summit in Pyongyang, in which both sides agreed to work toward promoting reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.

According to an itinerary issued by the South Korean government, the people to Seoul and Pyongyang respectively will enjoy six family reunions with their relatives and sightseeing at specified places.

But the people will not be allowed to visit homes of their separated family members or ancestral graves and a maximum of five South Koreans will be allowed to meet each visiting DPRK relative.

The South Korean government Monday reportedly gave brief instructions to the 100 South Koreans on how to behave in DPRK. They were advised to not take any book that are critical of the DPRK and to take less than 1,000 U.S. dollars in cash with them.

More than 75,000 South Koreans applied for this week's reunions with their relatives in the DPRK, but the number was narrowed down to 400 by computerized lottery, and then whittled down to 100, giving priority to those with a direct family relationship, such as parents, spouses and children.

Members of separated families, including the second and third generations, total 7.67 million in South Korea, according to the Unification Ministry.