Separated ROK residents head to DPRK for family reunions

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01:25

‍Dozens of elderly and frail people from the Republic of Korea (ROK) set off for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday to meet their family members for the first time since they were separated nearly seven decades ago by a war that divided the Korean peninsula.

A group of 89 elderly people and more than 300 others left for a Mount Kumgang resort on the DPRK's east coast in nearly 30 buses in the morning from ROK's northeastern coastal city of Sokcho, where they spent the night, reported Yonhap News Agency.

ROK Red Cross workers register participants arriving at a hotel and gathering point ahead of the inter-Korean family reunion in Sokcho on August 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

Before they set off, family members were told what to expect during the three-day reunion at a meeting with volunteers from the ROK Red Cross at a hotel in Sokcho.

The long-delayed reunion is part of a deal reached between ROK President Moon Jae-in and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in April.

Nearly 20,000 people have participated in 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions since 2000.

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The separated family members attending this year's reunion event were selected from a large pool of applicants. Many have had no contact with relatives from the other side since the war divided the peninsula. For some senior participants, it may be the last time they'll meet their loved ones face-to-face. Still, they are among the lucky ones.

By the end of May 2018, around 132,000 ROK residents had applied over the years to meet their relatives in the DPRK. Only 57,000 of those hopeful applicants are still alive, the vast majority of whom are now more than 70 years old.

An ROK woman chosen to attend a family reunion event in the DPRK undergoes a medical check after arriving at a hotel used as a gathering point, in Sokcho, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), on August 19, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

A total of 500 applicants were first chosen from the surviving relatives via a computer lottery. That number was later whittled down to 250, with the list later being finalized to around 90 based on age, health and other factors.