DATE=11/30/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=KOREA REUNIONS - L

NUMBER=2-269841

BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG

DATELINE=SEOUL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The second reunion of separated Korean families is taking place in Seoul and Pyongyang today / Thursday. The meetings had been briefly delayed by bad weather adding a few hours to the 50 years of waiting. Hyun-Sung Khang reports from Seoul, these are only the second family reunions to take place since the unprecedented inter-Korean summit in June.

TEXT: A plane due to depart from Seoul Thursday morning was delayed by fog at the airport. One hundred elderly Koreans on each side of the border were forced to wait an extra few hours before being reunited with family members they haven't seen in half a century.

The deputy head of the South Korean Red Cross, Bong Doo-Wan, who is leading the Southern delegation, says he believes the trip will help lay the foundation for the free exchange of letters and further reunions.

The two hundred Koreans are among an estimated seven million people completely cut-off from their families by the Cold War division of the Korean peninsula. With only two reunions held in the last 15 years, many are worried they will never be able to see their loved ones again.

The Seoul government has given priority to the oldest people most of the South Korean visitors are in their 70s and 80s, and include a hundred year old woman. The North Korean side includes many members of the elite from the Communist state.

The three-day reunion is one day shorter than the meetings in August. Seoul officials say it will also be far more private. The South Korean government, concerned with economic worries, has halved the amount of money spent on this reunion. The August event cost some two million dollars. This time, most of the visiting South Koreans have paid their own way.

This year's two family reunions are one tangible result of the warming relations on the peninsula. Following the first-ever inter-Korea summit held in Pyongyang in June, the leaders of the two Koreas pledged to promote reconciliation between their countries by introducing confidence-building measures, which include reuniting families. (signed)

NEB/HK/HSK/JO