Families gather for rare North, South Korea reunion
Close to 400 South Koreans, many of them elderly and nearly all in a state of fevered anticipation, gathered on Monday (October 19) in Sokcho, before crossing into North Korea for a rare reunion with separated family members.
Sokcho and the Expo tower in South Korea by night
Beginning Tuesday in the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang, it will be only the second such reunion in the past five years - the result of an agreement the two Koreas reached in August to de-escalate tensions that had pushed them to the brink of armed conflict.
Lake Samilpo in the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang
Tens of millions of people were displaced by the sweep of the 1950-53 Korean War. The chaos and devastation separated brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives. Because the conflict concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas technically remain at war and direct exchanges of letters or telephone calls are prohibited.
The Donghae-bukbu line on Korea's east coast - the road and rail link was built for South Koreans visiting the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region in the North
The reunion programme began in earnest after a historic North-South summit in 2000, but the numbers clamouring for a chance to participate have always far outstripped those actually selected.
Over the next three days, the South Koreans will sit down with their North Korean relatives six times - both in private and in public meetings. With more than 65,000 South Koreans currently on the waiting list for a reunion spot, they represent the lucky few, although the event itself is very bittersweet.
Korean Divided Families' Reunion
Each interaction only lasts two hours, meaning the family members have a total of just 12 hours to mitigate the trauma of more than six decades of separation. And for those in their 80 and 90s, the final farewell on Thursday after three days is tainted by the near certainty that there will never be another meeting.
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
