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Third Inter-Korean Separated Families Reunions End
One hundred people from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) left Seoul for Pyongyang Wednesday morning by a South Korean Asian Airlines passenger plane, wrapping up three days of tearful reunions with long-lost family members.
The plane will fly back to Seoul with 100 South Koreans Wednesday afternoon.
During this third inter-Korean family reunions, participants had more time for private moments with loved ones they hadn't seen since they were divided by the Korean War.
All separated family members complained that the time was too short to collect poignant stories spanning half a century.
The overall picture in Seoul was moving. However, a friction happened when 66-year-old Choe Kyong-sok from Pyongyang took out a book containing the photo of late DPRK leader Kim Il Sung to show his mother. The South Korean personnel protested strongly, leading to a minor scuffle between South Korea and the DPRK, which reportedly had agreed to keep the family reunions free of politics.
The exchange of separated family members is part of the June 15 Joint Declaration reached last year between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il at their first summit in Pyongyang, in which the two leaders agreed to seek inter-Korean reconciliation and peace on the Korean peninsula.
The 1950-1953 Korean War left the peninsula thousands of families divided and severed all contact between the two sides.
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