Divided families meet in North Korea

As The Guardian notes, this is a "tiny number considering there are an estimated 66,000 South Korean families who are still waiting for such a chance".

South Korea has held North Korean hackers responsible for the infiltration of multiple servers at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power in December and for launching attempts to steal sensitive data from employees.

"Father, it's me, your son", 65-year-old Chae Hee-yang of South Korea said to 88-year-old Chae Hoon-sik, who was trapped in North Korea, according to Yonhap News Agency, Euronews reported.

(Korea Pool Photo via AP).

There is a few time pressure on the meetings due to the advanced age and dwindling numbers of those eligible to participate. Hundreds of elderly Koreans from divi...

Kim Ok-Ja, 72 and unable to speak, was going to meet her elder brother who was forcibly recruited into the advancing North Korean army in 1951. It brought in almost 2 million visitors, mostly South Koreans, and provided the government with much needed hard currency.

One dad of 95 last saw his little girl when she was just two years old. Don't say "North Korea" and "South Korea" but "north side" and "south side". But the guidebook issued by South Korea's Red Cross, which organizes the reunions with its North Korean counterpart, warns that could provoke the North.

Moving video footage broadcast on South Korean TV showed divided brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, step-siblings and in-laws seeking each other out among numbered tables in the resort's main hall and then collapsing into each others' arms.

Participants are even given a guide book on appropriate subjects to discuss with their North Korean kin.

South Koreans are advised to steer clear of topics such as the North's political leadership or living standards.

"I am not sure if I will even be able to recognise her", he said. That all ended when a North Korean soldier shot a South Korean tourist to death in 2008. It was written in the letter he received telling him he'd been chosen for this week's reunion. "I want to see him right away".

North Korea said in September that its atomic fuel plants had been restarted and upgraded its fuel plants.

"From what I understand they're not always with a minder", he says.

"When we talk about the trilateral relationship, it's really two bilaterals", said Karl Friedhoff, public opinion and foreign policy fellow at the The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. "I still can't believe it".

Each interaction only lasts two hours, meaning a total of just 12 hours to mitigate the trauma of more than six decades of separation.

"We should have been allowed to sleep in the same room", Jang said.

South Korea and the United States warned the North not to launch a rocket, which they see a cover of a test for ballistic missile technology banned by the United Nations resolutions. Cash gifts have to be in USA dollars and must not exceed $1,500.