More Korean families are reunited
Published: August 26, 2005
About 150 South Koreans are travelling to North Korea to be reunited with relatives they have not seen for more than half a century.
They will stay at the Diamond Mountain resort until Sunday, together with more than 200 family members from the North.
The mountain retreat will be the scene of hundreds more reunions on Monday.
South Korean officials say more than 10,000 people have been reunited since the two Koreas agreed to promote peace and reconciliation at a summit in 2000.
In addition to the face-to-face meetings, 40 separated Korean families recently saw and talked to their relatives on the other side of the border using video links.
The link-up took place on 15 August, marking the 60th anniversary of independence from Japan.
Tense relations
Millions of families were separated by the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945 and the Korean War in the early 1950s.
Their border remains tightly sealed, guarded by some two million troops on both sides, and there is no direct mail, telephone service or other form of communication between the two countries.
North and South Korea technically remain at war, since the bitterly fought 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, but not a peace treaty.
Reunions are always surrounded by intense emotion, not least because many of those desperate to be reunited with their relatives are becoming increasingly frail.
Thousands die every year before getting the chance to be reunited with loved ones.
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