Separated Family Members on Korean Peninsula ReuniteIn South Korea, the family reunions were held at the Millennium Hall of the Central City convention complex in the southern part of Seoul where 100 separated family members from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reunited with their South Korean family members in tears and happiness. In the DPRK, the family reunions were arranged at the Koryo Hotelin Pyongyang. Thursday afternoon, the schedule for family reunions had to be rearranged as thick fog at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport forced the Korean Air flight, which took a 151-member South Korean delegation, to delay its departure for three and a half hours. The plane left Seoul for Pyongyang at 12:47 p.m. after the DPRK notified South Korea the fog had disappeared. It flew back to Seoul with a 136-member DPRK delegation to Seoul over the Yellow Sea as agreed upon previously by the two sides. The 151-member South Korean delegation includes the chief delegate Korea National Red Cross vice president Pong Du-wan, 20 journalists and 30 supporting personnel while the DPRK one including 36 staff members and journalists is headed by Jang Jae- on, chairman of the central committee of the DPRK Korean Red Cross Society. "I started packing at 1 a.m., and didn't get to sleep at all, but I feel wonderful. If I were a bird, I would have flown home a long time ago," said 100-year old Yu Tu-hi prior to leaving for Pyongyang. She, the oldest of the Southern delegation, has met her 75-year-old son in Pyongyang Thursday afternoon. Pak Chang-yun, 88, suffered chest pains at the last moment and had to be briefly checked by a doctor at the Lotte World Hotel where the family members spent the night before leaving for Pyongyang. "I am really all right, since the joy of meeting my family members overcame my pain," he said. The separated family members, after having reunions in Seoul and Pyongyang, took part in welcoming dinners hosted by the Red Cross societies of the two sides respectively. Friday, separated family members are set to meet their relatives individually in their hotel rooms. Under an agreement, the separated family members will lunch with their reunited relatives and then they will tour nearby areas. The three-day trip will end Saturday morning. A DPRK plane will send back the South Korean delegation and take the 136-member delegation back to Pyongyang. There are more than 10 million separated family members on the peninsula due to the Korean War in 1950-1953. At the historic inter-Korean summit in June, President Kim Dae- jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong IL signed an accord for reconciliation, cooperation and peace, which includes resolution of the dispersed family issue. After the first reunion August 15-18, the two sides agreed to hold two more reunions this year on November 2-4 and December 5-7, but the second was delayed to today and the third reunion is to be rescheduled. In addition to the reunions, Seoul and Pyongyang will discuss further measures to resolve the separated family issue, including the establishment of a permanent meeting point, at the third inter- Korean Red Cross meeting slated to open December 13-15 in the DPRK. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |
