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44 photos of emotional Korean family reunions will melt your heart
44 photos of emotional Korean family reunions will melt your heart
Katie Canales,Rachel GillettAug 30, 2018, 21:14 IST
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After more than 60 years apart, hundreds of South and North Korean families separated at the end of the Korean War in 1950 were reunited in August.
During the reunions, relatives embraced, cried, laughed, and discussed the lives they had missed out on together.
Here's an inside look at the heartwarming reunions.
Almost 180 families from North and South Korea hugged, laughed, and cried as they came together for the first time in 65 years.
After the separation of the two Koreas, thousands of parents, children, siblings, and other relatives became almost completely isolated from each other.
Through a series of family reunions organized by the Red Cross, select family members sat down together with their long-lost relatives for 11 hours over the course of three days in August.
After Korea was divided into two countries, families that lived in opposite regions from each other were separated — mothers from their children, brothers from sisters.
But in 1985, the first Korean family reunion was held, and almost 150 Koreans got to see their separated family members for the first time in over 30 years.
For South Koreans, to be chosen to take part in a reunion, you must enter a lottery, which is based based partly on age and how close the family ties are.
Almost 200 Korean families attended the most recent reunions in August, embracing and visiting with loved ones that they haven't seen in more than 60 years.
Before meeting, South Koreans were debriefed on rules set by North Korea and were told to avoid saying anything that could be interpreted as offensive or insensitive to the North.
According to a survey by the Red Cross, more than 25% of previous reunion participants faced depression and found it difficult to continue their daily lives afterward.