A group of 82 South Koreans, some in wheelchairs and many of them older than 90-years old, are crossing the border with the North to attend the first family reunion in more than three years for families divided by the Korean war. 

The relatives have not seen each other for decades.  They’re due to meet their North Korean relatives at the Mount Kumgang resort this afternoon and are expected to have dinner later tonight.  Around 180 North Koreans are expected to attend the reunion.

Millions of Koreans were separated from loved ones at the end of the Korean War in 1953, and the generation whose ties exist on both sides of the Cold War’s last frontier is rapidly disappearing.  There are more than 70 thousand South Koreans on a waiting list for reunions, which are rarely held due to the tension on the peninsula and the reclusive nature of the North.  Last year, 3,800 people on that waiting list died without getting to attend a reunion.