Two Koreas exchange separated families

In another meaningful step toward national reconciliation, South and North Korea will exchange visits Tuesday by separated families who will meet their long-lost kin in both nations. The mutual exchange of visitors for the family reunion, the first since September 1985, is a follow-up measure to the June 15 Joint Declaration by the leaders of the two Koreas and is based on the June 30 agreement reached by the Red Cross societies of the two sides.

The current family reunion marking National Liberation Day, which commemorates Korea¡¯s independence from Japanese colonial rule, is particularly significant in that it will serve as a touchstone for additional reunions, judging from North Korean National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il¡¯s remarks during a luncheon meeting with South Korean media presidents in Pyongyang Saturday. Kim suggested during the function that the two Koreas arrange two additional family reunions in September and October and continue the project next year after it is comprehensively examined. Each visitors` group is made up of 151 people, including 100 separate family members, 30 attendants, and 20 media representatives. The southern delegation is led by Chang Chung-Shik, president of the (South) Korea National Red Cross, and the northern side is headed by Ryu Mi-Young, chairwoman of Chongu-dang of Chondo-gyo.

The South Korean and North Korean visitors will stay three nights and four days in Seoul and Pyongyang, respectively. During their stays, they will meet with their long-lost family members six times. In Seoul, North Korean visitors will meet their kin in a group at the Convention Hall of the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Samsung-dong, while in Pyongyang, the family reunion will take place at the People`s Cultural Palace and other venues. Individual family reunions will take place on August 16 and 17. The separated families of the two sides will travel to Seoul and Pyongyang by a North Korean Koryo Air plane on Tuesday, and will return to their homes via a (South) Korean Air flight on Friday.

On the eve of the family reunion, the South Korean visitors attended a luncheon hosted by President Kim Dae-Jung at Chong Wa Dae, and underwent an education program for their visit to the North at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel in the afternoon. Also in the afternoon, the government conducted a quarantine of items the visitors will bring with them to the North at the South-North Dialogue Secretariat in Samchong-dong, Seoul. The southern separated families of the North Korean visitors stayed at the Seoul Olympic Parktel the night before the long-awaited family reunion.