South Koreans End Three-day Reunion with North Korean Relatives

They were separated during the Korean War, when the front line rolled up and down the peninsula. "He wept in silence as his daughter touched his face", the news outlet said.

But it didn't matter.

The North denies abducting South Koreans, but has allowed a few individuals Seoul says were kidnapped to meet their relatives in reunions. "Many made a decision to get out simply because they feared they were to be next, and that fear is clearly lingering".

In their August. 25 accord, Seoul and Pyongyang had agreed to hold inter-Korean family reunions to defuse military tension and bolster bilateral dialogue.

When their North Korean family members finally arrived at the farewell meeting site, they leapt to their feet.

The spike in defections was reported by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) to the National Assembly this week.

South Korea on Friday pressed North Korea to maintain bilateral talks on its nuclear programme, saying Seoul is dedicated to enjoying a extra lively position in addressing the matter.

North Koreans live mostly in poverty, enduring frequent food shortages.

In 1999, the JCP also changed its foreign policy posture and largely expanded its range of exchanges with foreign parties to go beyond only the communist parties with which it had limited ties until then.

"Along with the rest of the global community, we stand ready to offer a brighter future to North Korea, if North Korea demonstrates a genuine willingness to completely abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and agrees to abide by its worldwide obligations and commitments", the leaders said in a joint statement released after a meeting at the White House last week. By way of analogy, it would mean a US Forces Korea presence extending as far north as the Chinese border on the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen (Duman) Rivers - an intolerable situation for China.

"I hope we can meet again on the day the fatherland is reunited", he added. Son and daughter-in-law removed their shoes, placed them neatly to the side, and performed a deep bow to the father who had seen them for the first time in his life during the three-day event. Beijing welcomed the family reunions, and called for the reorganisation of the six-party mechanism and for the peace process to be restarted.

For many participants from both countries, their first meeting after decades of separation will likely be their last, considering their age.

"In a word, they are miserable", Lee Oh-hwan told The Wall Street Journal last week, describing the reunions she attended past year.

She raised their son on her own, making money from needlework and farming, and never remarried. He wore a gold wrist watch that his wife had given him as a present this week. At the time, Lee was also five months pregnant.