S Korean, DPRK families meet in reunion event

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of families from the two Koreas on Saturday met at the DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort in the first government-arranged reunion since the inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

South Korean Lee Jung-ho (L) cries as he meets his DPRK elder  brother, who was originally from the South and was a war prisoner  from South Korea during theKorean War, at the DPRK resort of Mount  Kumgang September 26, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Earlier in the day, 96 South Koreans, of whom more than three-quarters were at the age of 70 or older, crossed the inter-Korean border, heading for the Kumgang resort to meet their families separated by the 1950 - 1953 Korean War.

Arriving at the DPRK's resort in the afternoon, South Koreans met with their long-separated families at a massive gathering at around 3 p.m. local time (0600 GMT), and are later to have a dining meeting in the evening.

The separate, personal meetings are scheduled to be held on Sunday.

The South Korean families will come back home on Monday after the three-day gathering, which will be followed by the second-session reunion event which will last from Tuesday to Thursday.