Two Koreas exchange lists for family reunion

A total of 200 Koreans are to join a reunion, likely to be emotional as this one, later on this month.

SEOUL, South Korea -- South and North Korea have exchanged final lists of 100 candidates from each side who will take part in family reunions later this month.

"Red Cross groups from the South and the North exchanged the final lists of families for the third round of reunions," South Korea's Red Cross said.

A group of 100 North Koreans will fly to Seoul on February 26 to participate in the three-day reunion with their long-lost relatives, while on the same day, 100 South Koreans will travel to Pyongyang for similar reunions.

Chang Jeong-ja, vice-president of the Korea National Red Cross will lead the 151-member South Korean delegation, which also include 30 staff and 20 journalists, the South Korean government said.

Chang is also the widow of Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung's younger brother.

The 140-member North Korean will be led by Kim Kyong Rak, once the chief of North Korean delegate at the inter-Korean Red Cross talks.

This will be the third round of reunions for Korean families, split when the peninsula was divided by war half a century ago. The first two were held in August and December.

The reunions followed a historic June summit in which South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il met and agreed to make efforts to end their countries' decades-long confrontation.

The two Koreas remain in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce that has yet to be replaced by a peace agreement.

Before last year's reunions there had only been one officially sanctioned meeting of members of some divided families, in 1985 when 50 people from each side were allowed to meet long-lost relatives.

The border has remained sealed off since the war and all forms of communication between the people of the two Koreas are banned.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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