Over 100 South Koreans prep for reunions with North Korean relatives

More than 100 South Koreans gathered at a resort on the country's east coast on Wednesday as part of preparations for their first reunions with their North Korean relatives since the 1950-53 Korean War, officials said. The move comes days after the rival Koreas held rare high-level talks and agreed to hold the reunions at Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort on the North's east coast, from Feb. 20-25. The upcoming reunions, the first since late 2010, come amid lingering tensions over South Korea's upcoming joint military exercises with the United States. The North has denounced the annual military exercises as a rehearsal for invasion. Still, Seoul and Washington are set to begin the exercises on Monday to heighten their defense posture against possible provocations from North Korea. A total of 82 elderly South Koreans, accompanied by 58 family members, arrived in the resort in the east coastal city of Sokcho where they will go through medical checkups and receive training on do's and don'ts for their trip to the North, according to the unification ministry. Cho Ki-deok, 93, told pool reporters that he is thrilled beyond description because he can realize his dream of reuniting his eldest son in North Korea and his younger son in South Korea. "I'mspeechless," Cho told reporters. Pyo Bo-pae, an 86-year-old woman, said she slept for about three hours as she was so excited about the upcoming meeting with her two North Korean brothers she left behind as she fled the North along with her husband during the war. On Thursday, the South Koreans will leave for Mount Kumgang by bus on an inter-Korean road for the reunions with 180 North Korean relatives that will last until Saturday, in the first stage of the reunions, they said. Unification ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-jin said South Korea is making preparations to ensure the rival Koreas will stage the reunions without a hitch, noting that South Koreans have been clearing heavy snow, which has blanketed the venue of the reunions, for the past several days. She also said South Korea's Red Cross chief Yoo Jung-keun plans to visit the venue, though she did not say whether Yoo will meet with her North Korean counterpart. On Sunday, about 360 other South Koreans plan to hold a second round of reunions with 88 North Korean relatives in the North's resort before they return home on Tuesday. South Korea has repeatedly called for frequent family reunions with North Korea. South Korea has also built a family reunion center on Mount Kumgang, just north of the heavily fortified border. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has instructed officials to come up with fundamental measures for frequent family reunions between the two Koreas. Yoo, the Red Cross chief, also said she hopes that the two Koreas can hold reunions on a regular basis. Millions of Koreans remain separated since the Korean War, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. The family reunions are a pressing humanitarian issue on the divided peninsula, as most of the separated family members are in their 70s and 80s, and wish to see their long-lost relatives before they die. More than 129,200 South Koreans have applied for temporary reunions with their family members and relatives in North Korea since 1988, according to government data. Among them, more than 57,700 people, or 44.7 percent of the applicants, have died, including 3,841 people who died last year, according to the data. Still, the North has balked at the idea of staging frequent family reunions.