Two Koreas plan first family reunion in three years

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- North and South Korea have taken a significant step towards holding the first cross-border family reunions in three years, the Korea National Red Cross says.

The Red Cross said it got a list from North Korea of 200 people who wanted to have meetings with relatives in the south on Aug. 29, Yonhap news agency reported.

The organization said Friday it had been able to trace 149 people on the list, although six of them are dead and another 16 do not want to meet their relatives or are unable to.

North Korea was given a list of 250 people with South Korean relatives seeking reunions. The Pyongyang government said 117 are able and willing to meet relatives, with 38 dead, 12 unable to do so and 83 untraceable.

The first reunions are scheduled for Sept. 25 through Sept. 30 at the Mount Kumgang resort in the north. Another round of reunions is scheduled for November.

"Priority will be given to older people and on whether or not the meeting will allow immediate family members likes spouses, parents and children and siblings to see each other after all these years," a Red Cross official said.

In South Korea, 36 of those seeking reunions are 90 or older and another 56 are between the ages of 80 and 89.

The two countries held their first reunion in 1985. There were 18 between 2000 and 2010, allowing almost 4,000 people to see long-lost relatives, but they were suspended because of rising tensions.