Advance team for family reunions heads to N. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- An advance team from Seoul left for North Korea on
Monday to lay the ground for the upcoming reunions of families separated by the
Korean War over half a century ago, the government said.

The 10-member team formed of South Korean Red Cross and government officials
departed Seoul for Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast, where they
will engage in administrative and technical preparations, the Unification
Ministry said.
Arranged by the Red Cross offices of the two countries, family reunions were
launched in 2000 following the historic first inter-Korean summit that year. The
humanitarian project was suspended in late 2007 as Pyongyang boycotted
inter-Korean dialogue, but the North agreed last month to restart it in one of
the latest signs that it is adopting a more conciliatory stance toward the South.

Two separate, back-to-back events will held at the scenic Mount Kumgang resort
from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1. Last week, the two Koreas exchanged lists bearing the
names of 100 people each who will participate in the reunions.
About 600,000 people in the South are believed to have kin in the North from whom
they have been separated since the 1950-53 Korean War. Candidates were first
selected through a computer lottery, with the final lists being drawn from
applicants whose relatives were located, giving priority to immediate family
members and the elderly.
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