SOUTH KOREA: South Korea says it regrets Pyongyang's decision to halt reunions between families separated since the Korean war

South Korea said on Thursday (July 20) it was regretful that Pyongyang wanted to halt reunions between families that have been separated ever since the Korean War of 1950-53. Reclusive North Korea informed the South of its decision on Wednesday (July 19), in a letter addressed to the South Korean Red Cross, which had arranged for the next round of reunions on August 15. "We think it is very regretful that North Korea has informed us that they will halt special video reunions and the construction of meeting areas," Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told reporters. Since North Korea test launched seven missiles on July 5, ties with its neighbour, and one of its main providers of aid, have soured. Pyongyang has drawn international condemnation for the launch. "For a while, relations between North and South Korea will be difficult. As I said before, I am saying that is the situation right now but we will try to maintain it," Lee added. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun warned against any "excessive" response to North Korea over its missile tests saying it would only add to tensions. But North Korea said it decided to halt family reunions after cabinet-level talks between the two ended in acrimony last week, after the South said it would stop humanitarian aid because of the North's missile tests. North and South Korea have held several rounds of the heart wrenching reunions for thousands of Koreans, mostly elderly who said it was their dying wish to see their relatives on the other side of the divided peninsula. For 91-year-old Lee Soon-nam, the news that the reunions have been cancelled was devastating as she was hoping to see her youngest sister during the next closed-circuit video reunions, scheduled to be held in Seoul. Lee and her family left North Korea after the war broke out, but her younger sister stayed behind after she married a Communist Party official. "Since I haven't seen them since then, I miss them that much more. I wanted to see them just once before I die but I left them all behind," Lee said. Without any idea of when reunions may restart, Lee says she may never be able to see her sister. "I at least I want to see my niece. But will I be able to meet them now? I am old now. I would have died if I lived in North Korea. I will be 92 in a couple of days," she said. Lee's son condemned the North for halting the reunions for political reasons. "It is wrong to manipulate the reunions as a political tool for people who don't have enough time to live and have unfulfilled wishes," 61-year-old Kang Chul-soon said. The reunions of Koreans whose families were separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War grew out of an unprecedented summit of the leaders of the two Koreas in 2000. In principle, Seoul sees the reunions for the hundreds of thousands of Koreans whose families have been separated as humanitarian in nature and not tied to political developments. The two Koreas will have a series of reunions that run through June 30 involving an estimated 1,760 North and South Koreans, a South Korean Unification Ministry official said. The reunions are mostly among elderly Koreans, many of whom have said it is their dying wish to see their mother, brother or some other family member they left behind on the other side of the peninsula a half century ago.

ITN Source | July 20, 2006

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