(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) North and South Korea have agreed to hold rare reunions for families separated by the Korean War in late October as the two sides seek to mend ties following their recent landmark deal on easing military tensions.
After marathon talks, the two Koreas agreed to hold the reunions for 100 separated families each from both sides on October 20-26 at a facility at Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort on the North's east coast, according to South Korea's Ministry of Unification.
The decision follows the Red Cross working-level talks which kicked off Monday as Seoul and Pyongyang reached a historic agreement on August 25 to resume the family reunions on the occasion of Korea's fall harvest holiday, Chuseok, slated for late this month. "On the shared perception that South and North Korea need to fundamentally resolve the humanitarian issue, the two sides agreed to hold Red Cross high-level talks as soon as possible to discuss related issues such as the continuation of reunion events," Lee Duck-haeng, Seoul's chief delegate, said at a press briefing, according to Yonhap news agency.
The upcoming event, the first reunions since February 2014, is the outcome of the inter-Korean deal which was clinched following heightened tensions over the North's land mine blasts near the inter-Korean border in early August. There are more than 66,000 South Korean family members separated by the Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving South and North Korea technically at war.
The issue of the separated families is one of the most pressing humanitarian matters as most of the surviving family members are in their 70s and 80s. About half of the estimated 129,700 applicants for the family reunions have died.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.