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There were many more tears of joy, but also of great sorrow on Sunday as the second round
of reunions for families separated since the Korean War got under way at the North's Mt.
Kumgang resort. This round, scheduled to run through Tuesday,
started just one day before Seoul's annual military exercises with Washington.
Shin Se-min reports. There were more heart-wrenching and highly emotional scenes Sunday as families
looked back and forth at the faces and the aged pictures of their long-lost fathers and
brothers separated since the Korean War. The second round of tearful reunions that
have been under way since last week began Sunday at North Korea's Mt. Kumgang resort.
Families currently living in the U.S. and Canada came all the way to the separated peninsula,
in the hope of meeting their lost families. This time, 88 North Koreans had requested
to meet 3-hundred-57 South Korean relatives. Most of the family members from the North
were initially living in the South before they were taken by volunteer troops, when
the Korean War broke out. Families in the southern part of the peninsula
said they even held memorial services for their family members who did not return home.
Just like the first round, participants from both sides of the border are scheduled to
meet six separate times for a total of 11 hours.
The much-anticipated reunion went ahead,...despite growing tensions about Seoul and Washington's
joint military drills that begin Monday. The annual joint "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle"
drills have once again drawn fierce criticism from the North.
However, a South Korean military official says the drills will be held in a "low-key"
manner considering the ongoing reunions. The North's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper
quoted a North Korean official at the UN Charter meeting last week as saying the U.S. was the
main culprit for proceeding with the military exercise.
Experts say that, following the reunion event, Pyongyang will likely suggest reviving trade
and investment between the two Koreas and ask for humanitarian aid from Seoul.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.