Families in North and South Korea are attending the 21st official reunion since the Korean war resulted in the division of the peninsula
ADVERTISEMENTKorean families started to register on Sunday for the 21st reunion between the North and the South. Hundreds of people will participate in a week of temporary reunions of families that were separated by the Korean War. Many have had no contact with each other since the war resulted in the division of the peninsula.
"I am meeting my nephews who are my older brother's children," said 93-year-old Lee Kwan-joo." "My brother has passed away and I hear my nephews are still alive and I have never seen their faces. What can I say other than I am happy?"
Kwon Seok, 94, is planning to meet her granddaughter for the first, and possibly only, time:
"I am happy. I do not get to see my son but I am happy that I am meeting my granddaughter."
The reunion will take place in Sokcho, a South Korean coastal city close to the border. Nearly 20,000 people have participated in 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions since 2000.
No one has had a second chance to see their relatives.
This week's reunions come after a three-year hiatus during which North Korea tested three nuclear weapons and multiple missiles that demonstrated the potential of striking the continental United States.