North Korea Cancels Plans For Cross-Border Family Reunions
A chance for families in South and North Korea to meet their long-lost relatives has been put off indefinitely, as North Korea canceled reunions that were to take place in the coming week. A South Korean official called the decision "inhumane" Saturday.
"The North's postponement shattered the thrill and hopes of nearly 200 families overnight and deserves denunciation as an inhumane act," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eyi-do said, according to The Korea Herald.
NPR's Jason Strother reports from Seoul, for our Newscast unit:
"The resumption of inter-Korean family reunions was seen as a step toward reconciliation. But Pyongyang says due to South Korea's conservative policies, separated families will have to wait indefinitely.
"The South Korean Red Cross says each year, thousands of people die who were on the waiting list to meet lost loved ones. These are Koreans who were separated when the peninsula was permanently divided during the Korean War 60 years ago.
"Earlier this week, the two Koreas reopened a joint factory complex in the North."