Part 1: 친가족과 만나는 이산가족들

Watching the event unfold from a bird's eye view is deeply moving enough.
And now we have a chance to get to know the people directly involved in this emotional roller coaster.
Our defense ministry correspondent Park Ji-won joins us in the studio today to share with us all she heard while sitting down with the families involved.
Jiwon?

Yes, Daniel.
For this first round of three-day reunions,... there are 89 participants from the South who have traveled to the North to meet their loved ones, each of them accompanied by one or two people to look after them.
Only 7 people out of the South Korean participants are meeting members of their immediate families,... like sons and daughters.
One of them is 89-year old Yoo Gwan-sik.
He's meeting his 67-year daughter, whom he's never seen before.
Yoo said... he didn't even know his wife was pregnant when he decided to escape North Korea temporarily,... or so he thought.
It was a decision that changed his life.
After that he never saw his wife again, and never got to meet his daughter until now.
Upon meeting each other, they looked at family photos together.

"Father, this is a photo of mother. Mother. Mother."

Another story is heart-wrenching.

"Are you Sang-chul? You are Sang-chul You are You are Sang-chul "

92-year old Lee Geum-seom ,... who's meeting her 71-year old son.
She burst into tears seeing her son, who grew up in North Korea.
A day ago, in a press interview, Lee said she'd like to ask how he was raised and by whom.
As gifts for him, she brought coats and nutritional supplements.
Then there's 99-year old Han Shin-ja who met the two daughters she left behind in North Korea.
She thought she'd be reunited with them in two to three months during the war.
She burst into tears seeing them, and they held hands the whole time.