Talks aim to reunite Korean families split by war

South Korea and North Korea have agreed to talk about reuniting families separated by the Korean War more than 55 years ago. Red Cross officials from South Korea today crossed into the North for talks that could allow families split by the border to see each other again. Because of the frayed relationship between the two nations, these talks will be the first joint meetings of Red Cross officials from both countries in two years. It signals a recent thawing in relations between the two sides.

If the two Koreas agree on a new round of family reunions, by October, some families could communicate and meet for the first time since the end of fighting in 1953. The three-day meeting will look at arranging for a selected number of Koreans from each side to meet relatives they have never met or have not communicated with. And for hundreds of thousands of Koreans, separated from their relatives by the war, time is running out. "Since it is a meeting being held after a year and nine months, the main topic is the dispersed family issue," chief South Korean delegate Kim Young-chol said.

Millions of families were split by the division of the Korean peninsula in 1945 and the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, leaving the two countries technically at war. More than 16,000 Koreans have met relatives in temporary reunions held under South Korea's two previous liberal presidents. Before they were suspended, highly emotional reunions were a symbol of reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula. But the North broke off the visits after President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, who has taken a harsher stance on the North compared with his recent predecessors, took office 18 months ago.

There are no mail, telephone or e-mail exchanges between ordinary citizens across the Korean border.If talks do work out, it is likely that only a fraction of those families on the waiting list will be able to see their relatives in the highly emotional but all-too-brief meetings, the BBC reported. Only about 100 families from the 100,000 or so searching for their relatives are likely to be involved, it said. North Korea's recent attempts to reach out to South Korea and the US come after upsets earlier this year, including its second nuclear test in May and a clutch of ballistic missile launches. Earlier this month, the North freed two American journalists after former President Bill Clinton went to Pyongyang. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for illegally entering the country. North Korea has also agreed to lift restrictions on border crossings with the South, and pledged to resume suspended inter-Korean projects.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children