Farewell: Moment tearful South Koreans grasped at windows of coach as they were taken back across the North Korean border following three-day reunion with family

Hundreds of South and North Koreans reunited after more than 60 years

More than 100 elderly South Koreans travelled to North Korea for reunions

About 180 North Koreans are also expected, Seoul has said



Reunions between residents of the two countries planned until Tuesday



After being tearfully reunited, hundreds of elderly North and South Koreans were separated again following their brief visit.



The relatives, separated by war more than six decades ago, were tearfully reunited during a rare period of eased relations between the two countries.

The reunions will continue when a group of about 360 South Koreans arrives tomorrow to meet with North Korean relatives. The second and final round of reunions is set to end Tuesday.

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South Koreans in a bus bid farewell to their North Korean relatives before they return to their home

Relative return home after a family reunion, having been separated for 60 years following the Korean War

The program allows reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean war

South Korean Jung Hee-Kyung (left), 81, bids farewell to his North Korean relative before they return to their home

More than 100 elderly South Koreans travelled through falling snow to North Korea's Diamond Mountain to reunite with relatives they had not seen since the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. About 180 North Koreans were also expected, Seoul has said.

Elderly women in traditional hanbok dresses were seen on South Korean TV talking and hugging at the resort while stooped men wiped away tears. The reunions are due to be short lived as the families are once again expected to part in a few days.

As his North Korean daughter wept today, 93-year-old South Korean Park Un-hyeong tried to console her before boarding a bus to take him south across the world's most heavily armed border after spending three days with her in the North.



For Park and dozens of other Koreans at these rare reunions of families divided by the Korean War, it was likely the last time they'd see each other.

Hundreds of North and South Koreans have been reunited for the first time in more than 60 years. Pictured are South Korean Lee Son-hyang, 88, left, and her North Korean brother Lee Yoon Geun, 72, at the reunion

Elderly South Koreans travelled through falling snow with their families to North Korea's Diamond Mountain to reunite with relatives they had not seen since the Korean War. Pictured is South Korean Park Yang-gon, left, and his North Korean brother Park Yang Soo

'You shouldn't cry on this good day,' he told his daughter, Pak Myung Ok, 68, as he prepared to leave the North Korean resort that hosted the first reunions of North and South Koreans in more than three years, according to South Korean media pool reports.



'We'll be able to meet again soon. Trust your father, stay healthy and live well.'



In another emotional scene, an 84-year-old South Korean woman, Lee Oh-hwan, became short of breath from crying too hard and was immediately treated by a medical team.



Her North Korean sister, 72-year-old Ri Ok Bin, tried to calm her down, telling her in an aching voice not to get sick.



Again and again, similar scenes played out as 80 elderly South Koreans said their goodbyes to North Korean relatives. They wept, held hands, caressed faces, took pictures and tried to convince themselves that they'd meet again.



Both democratic South Korea and authoritarian North Korea share the same type of rhetoric about eventual reunification, and many average Koreans say they long for that day.



But after near continual animosity and occasional bloodshed since the three-year war ended in an unsteady armistice in 1953, many analysts see that as only a distant possibility.

This round of reunions over the world's most heavily fortified border, the first since 2010, comes amid a North Korean charm offensive. Pictured is South Korean Kim Sung-yoon, 96, right, with her North Korean sister Kim Seok Ryu, 80

South Korean Lee Young-sil (right), 87, cries after meeting her North Korean sister Lee Jung-sil, 84, during their family reunion at the resort in North Korea

More reunions are planned until Tuesday. This round of reunions over the world's most heavily fortified border, the first since 2010, comes amid a North Korean charm offensive.

Among the South Koreans making the journey to the reunion was octogenarian Jang Choon, who bought a new suit before he finally made it to North Korea to meet the family he has not seen since the war.



Meanwhile, Kim Dong-bin, a 78-year-old diagnosed with lung cancer last September, has been undergoing chemotherapy, which he said would allow him to meet the elder sister he was separated from more than 60 years ago, before he dies.

Kim, who fled south when he was 16, fearing U.S. attacks on Pyongyang during the war, said: 'I am afraid my family in North Korea might still think I came to the South to live a good life for me alone.



'Before I die, I must explain that I did not abandon my family, that I was swept up by the refugee flow during the chaos. Resolving this misunderstanding is the first thing I want to do in person with my sister,' he said.



The reunions used to be held roughly annually, but have not taken place since 2010 as tensions between the two Koreas spiralled after the South said the North sank one of its naval vessels. In later months, the North shelled a South Korean island and Pyongyang threatened nuclear attacks last year.

Kim Sun-kyum, 91, is helped by a Red Cross official as he arrives to take part in family reunions with his North Korean family members

Pictured is South Korean Lee Oh-hwan, left, 85, with her North Korean family during the reunion. The reunions are due to be short lived as the families are once again expected to part in a few days The reunions used to be held roughly annually, but have not taken place since 2010 as tensions between the two Koreas spiralled after the South said the North sank one of its naval vessels Millions of other Koreans have been separated from loved ones since the three-year war that ended in 1953 South Korean Lee Young-sil (right), 87, cries after meeting her North Korean daughter Dong Myung-suk, 66, during their family reunion

'My youngest brother Ha-choon had not even started school when I last saw him,' said Jang, the eldest of four siblings, one of whom has died.



He said: 'But now he's an old man like me.'



Jang was conscripted by the North Korean army at 19 but ended up being captured and, when given a choice to return to his home in North Hamgyong Province near the Russian border, he opted to stay in the South.



Those taking part in the reunions however were only the lucky few - millions of other Koreans have been separated from loved ones since the three-year war that ended in 1953.

Lee Hyo-Kuk (left) is checked by medical staff after arriving at the Hanwha resort as South Koreans selected to attend family reunions with the North gather in the eastern port city of Sockcho on Wednesday

Elderly people receive medical checks as they arrive at a hotel before setting off to take part in the reunions with their family members in North Korea

Kim Dong-Bin, one of the South Koreans selected to attend family reunions with the North, sits in his hotel room the night before the meeting

Medical staff visit the hotel room of Ma Jong-Tae (centre), one of the South Koreans selected to attend family reunions with the North

During a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, about 22,000 Koreans had brief reunions - 18,000 in person and the others by video. None got a second chance to reunite, Seoul says.

The rival nations struck a deal last week to go ahead with brief meetings of war-divided families, although there was wariness in Seoul that Pyongyang could back out.

North Korea is pushing for better ties with the South, and has ratcheted down harsh rhetoric that swelled last spring with a torrent of threats to launch nuclear strikes against Seoul and Washington.

Analysts say the North hopes better relations with Seoul will attract badly needed foreign investment and aid.

The six days of family reunions take place under the cloud of a U.N. report on human rights abuses in North Korea, which investigators have said were comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.

Buses carrying South Koreans cross the border line to Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea

Millions of Korean families have been separated since the war. Both governments ban their citizens from visiting each other or even exchanging letters, phone calls and emails

The rival nations struck a deal last week to go ahead with brief meetings of war-divided families

A South Korean man selected to attend joint North and South family reunions sits in the lobby of a hotel as he prepares to depart for the North Korean border, in the eastern port city of Sokcho

South Korean Heo Kyung-ok (right), 86, waves from a bus heading to North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort to meet her family members

South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae (right) pushes Choi Jeong-ho's wheelchair, as the 91-year-old woman leaves for North Korea to meet her family members

North Korea is pushing for better ties with the South, and has ratcheted down harsh rhetoric that swelled last spring with a torrent of threats to launch nuclear strikes against Seoul and Washington

Pyongyang has rejected the report, describing it as a concoction by the United States and its allies, Japan and the European Union.



Millions of Korean families have been separated since the war. Both governments ban their citizens from visiting each other or even exchanging letters, phone calls and emails.

In 2000, South Korea created a computerised lottery system for South Koreans hoping for reunions, and since then nearly 130,000 people, most in their 70s or older, have entered. Only about 70,000 are still alive.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un provides field guidance to the November 2 Factory of the Korean People's Army in this image, released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

The family reunions take place under the cloud of a U.N. report on human rights abuses in North Korea, which investigators have said were comparable to Nazi-era atrocities

Pyongyang has rejected the report, describing it as a concoction by the United States and its allies, Japan and the European Union

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the factory at an unknown place in North Korea, which produces food for the North Korean soldiers

Analysts say the North hopes better relations with Seoul will attract badly needed foreign investment and aid







Those selected for aborted reunions in September get another chance this week.

However, two of the South Koreans selected and three of North Koreans have died since then, according to South Korea's Red Cross, which is helping arrange the meetings along with its North Korean counterpart.