136 people in their 80s applied for North visits

Topping the list of applicants for meeting with the relatives in North Korea are those in their

70s who have spouses or parents in the Hwanghoe-do province in the North. The applicants are expected to visit the North around August 15 as part of the inter-Koran family reunion program.

The Korean Red Cross Society has announced a roster of 400 people as candidates for the reunion program, who were initially selected through computer drawing from a total of 76,793 applicants.

According to the society, the figures break down to 136 people in their 80s, 197 people are in the 60s,

and 47 are in their 50s or lower. A total of 17,944 people over 80-years -old are registered for the

familiy reunion. The figure represents 23 percent of the total applicants but some 34 percent of the total were actually selected with priority given for their advanced age.

In view of their hometowns in the North, Hwanghoe-do topped the other provinces with 133 or 33 percent of the total, followed by 90 ( 23 percent) from Pyongang-namdo,

72 (5.3 percent) from Hwangkyong-namdo, and 52 (13 percent) from Pyongan-namdo.

spear@donga.com