Inter-Korean Family Reunions: Difficult goodbyes after emotional meetings

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The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held reunions last week for families separated by the Korean War. But thousands of families remain divided with no way to communicate. And for the lucky few that are selected to participate in reunions, parting ways a second time isn't any easier. Our correspondent Shane Hahm reports.

It's time to say farewell again after an emotional three-day reunion.

Separated families return home on opposite sides of the demilitarized zone to live as it's been the past six-plus decades.

84-year-old Paik Seong-yeon grew up just north of Pyongyang in the DPRK, but wound up in South Korea after the Korean War.

She participated in the latest round of reunions, where she met and shared stories with the spouses of her now-deceased brother and sister.

She even learned that another brother she thought had died in Japan during World War II had returned to live in their childhood home after the war.

PAIK SEONG-YEON FAMILY REUNION PARTICIPANT "Now that I've met my family, my heart is full. We didn't grow up with each other, we didn't know each other. But there was an attraction only blood relatives can feel."

Paik was one of 89 South Koreans selected for this latest round of reunions.

But there are more than 56,000 remaining on a government registry who also wish to partake.

85 percent are over the age of 70, and every year roughly 3,000 people on the list pass away.

PAIK SEONG-YEON FAMILY REUNION PARTICIPANT "I don't cry often but saying goodbye again made me shed a tear. When I think about not being able to meet again, it makes me very emotional and it's difficult to express in words."

SHANE HAHM SEOUL "Red Cross officials from the ROK and the DPRK have agreed to hold more reunions later this year, possibly in late-October. But to accommodate all separated families, some are calling for newer and more creative ways for families to reunite."

PARK KAB-IL FAMILY REUNION PARTICIPANT "I hope the Red Cross, as a matter of policy, is able to allow families to communicate news to each other back and forth through letters, video messages, and other means."

Paik says she can now rest easy knowing how her family spent the past six-plus decades.

But she says the ultimate dream will be the day the South and the North unify, so she can visit the village she grew up in and pay respects at her parents' gravesite. Shane Hahm, CGTN.