North Korea has agreed to host family reunions for relatives living on different sides of the border with South Korea in October after talks with Seoul, just weeks after the two countries exchanged artillery firein a dispute over loudspeakers broadcasting propaganda.
One hundred people from each country will take part in the reunions between October 20-26 at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea, AP reported. The last such reunions were held in early 2014 and are a rare chance for mostly-elderly Koreans separated by the heavily militarised border to see long-lost relatives towards the ends of their lives.
The reunions were initially proposed as part of an agreement to defuse tensions following confrontations in August. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a "semi-state of war" after Seoul fired dozens of shells across the border in retaliation for two rockets being launched in the opposite direction, allegedly by Pyongyang.
Thousands of Korean families have been separated since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. About 22,500 Koreans have participated in the brief reunions, which started in 1988. According to the BBC, some 66,000 elderly South Koreans are still on waiting list to see their relatives in the pariah state of North Korea, and communication by other means is almost non-existent.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
