Competition higher for future reunions

Would being selected for the second round of inter-Korean separated family reunions be like winning the lottery?

The Korea National Red Cross (KNRC) stated that with the successful August 15 reunions, the number of applicants for future exchanges has skyrocketed, making it likely that it will be much more difficult to make the list for the second round of exchanges.

According to the KNRC, within a mere one-month period, the number of applications has increased by 20,000. The applications, which stood at around 70,000 in July, number 94,000 as of mid-August.

As such, the competition rate, which was 480 to 1, has now increased to 600 to 1 and is steadily rising.

Although the South Korean government and KNRC hope to include a higher number of candidates in future exchanges than the 100 that participated in the first reunion, this has not been confirmed with the North. It was further revealed that the selection process for future exchanges would be identical to that used in the August 15 reunions.