The first round was wrapped up on Thursday. “We’re always concerned about North Korean behaviour and provocations of all kinds”, Carter said, adding “There’s a constant potential for provocations”. “You don’t need to worry”.
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“Thank you for being alive”, said Jung Jeong-yang, 54, who was just 11 years old when her older brother vanished.
The issue of separated families is the most pressing humanitarian matter for South and North Korea.
Earlier in the week, about 390 South Koreans had traveled to the resort to meet with 180 North Korean relatives.
They also said that Pyongyang and Washington must sign a peace treaty.
The family reunions, the first since February 2014, are the outcome of a landmark deal that South and North Korea reached on August 25 to defuse military tension and resume the family reunions.
The North Korean vessel did not return fire or take other action, the official said.
Nearly all of the separated families had their own heart-wrenching stories as living witnesses of Korea’s modern history – division of the two Koreas and the devastating war. “I’ll live to 100”, 70-year-old Ri Dong Wuk told his father, Lee Seok-ju, during their farewell meeting at North Korea’s scenic Diamond resort.
He had left his son behind in 1950 as he fled to the South to avoid being mobilised for the North Korean army. “Do not worry about me!” said Jung.
The latest reunion, meanwhile, ended with no commitment as to when the next one might be held. With the relationship on solid ground, the two leaders can begin to formulate long-term plans that address how the alliance fits into a larger USA and allied strategic vision for Asia.Obama said Iran had been prepared to have a “serious conversation” about the possibility of giving up the pursuit of nuclear weapons.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently admitted that the current policy of imposing economic sanctions might not be sufficient in handling the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
More than 65,000 South Koreans are now on the waiting list for a reunion spot. This time, most of the families were reunited with their siblings or close relatives. For the second round, 37.8 percent of 90 elderly South Koreans are aged in their 90s.
Divided into two rounds, it was only the second gathering in five years for those torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean conflict. No direct exchange of letters and telephone call has been allowed since 1953.
The second group of families bringing gift packages, including clothes, watches, medicine, food and – in most cases – around US$1,500 (RM6,379) in cash are to meet relatives from today to Monday.
South Korea uses a computerized lottery system to pick participants for the reunions while North Korea reportedly chooses based on loyalty to its authoritarian leadership.
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North Koreans gave their South Korean relatives shopping bags with their country’s traditional products, including liquor.
