Family reunion, first step toward peace on Korean Peninsula

A south Korean family reunion participant, 85, is showing a photo of her family in Sokcho, Feb 19, 2014. Those gathered in Sokcho will leave Thursday morning for the Mount Kumgang resort in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s east coast to meet their long-lost relatives, who have lived in the DPRK for six decades. [Photo/Xinhua]

SEOUL - A secluded resort hotel, located inside the mountains in South Korea's east coastal city of Sokcho, was unusually crowded with gray-haired old men and women, among whom some leaned upon sticks and some were wheelchair-bound.

Rare ROK-DPRK agreement greenlights family reunions

Family reunion participants, four fifth of whom in their 80s and 90s, jammed the hotel lobby Wednesday afternoon to confirm their identification. They were accompanied by family members, surrounded by photographers and TV cameras shooting the rare, unusual scene.

Seoul and Pyongyang have agreed to hold reunion of separated families from February 20 to 25. The agreement was reaffirmed during the senior-level talks between the two Koreas held last Friday. The humanitarian event will come in more than three years. The latest round of family reunion was held in November 2010.

Those gathered in Sokcho will leave Thursday morning for the Mount Kumgang resort in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s east coast to meet their long-lost relatives, who have lived in the DPRK for six decades.

In the first stage of the reunion that will run from Thursday to Saturday, 82 South Koreans accompanied by 58 family members will meet 180 relatives from the DPRK. In the second stage that will last for three days from Sunday, 88 people from the DPRK will meet 361 South Korean relatives.