S Korea, DPRK exchange lists of participants for upcoming family reunions

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday exchanged final lists of participants in the upcoming family reunions, the Unification Ministry said.

The two sides, via liaison officers at Panmunjom, exchanged the lists containing names of 100 people from each country, who will participate in the events scheduled for Sept. 26 to Oct. 1, shortly before Chuseok Day (Mid-Autumn festival), one of the two most important Korean traditional holidays, the ministry said.

On Sept. 26-28, 100 South Korean participants will travel to Mount Kumgang resort to meet with their DPRK relatives, while the 100-member DPRK group will meet with their separated relatives during the period from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

The new round of reunions for families separated by the 1950-53war has been agreed by South Korea and the DPRK in August.

The family reunion program began in 2000 after a historic inter-Korean summit between the two sides.

Since then, the two sides have held 16 rounds of face-to-face reunions and seven rounds of video exchanges.

The last reunions were held in October 2007. The program has been suspended as ties between Pyongyang and Seoul soured after South Korea's conservative government under President Lee Myung-bak came to power in February 2008.

About 600,000 South Koreans are believed to have relatives in the DPRK. Ordinary citizens were not allowed to make phone calls, send letters or exchange e-mails across the border.