By Seo Soo-min
Staff Reporter

South and North Korea on March 14 exchanged letters for 300 separated family members from each side of the border for the first time since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Red Cross liaison officials swapped pouches containing the letters at the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission conference hall at the truce village of Panmunjom in the afternoon.

The mail exchange took place despite recent concern that North Korea might not abide by earlier agreements after the abrupt cancellation of the fifth inter-Korean ministerial talks with South Korea, which were scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

No reason for the meeting’s delay was given by Pyongyang and the telephone message sent by the North’s chief delegate Jon Kum-jin only cited ``various circumstances.’’

The letters from the divided family members, which were transported to their respective Red Cross headquarters in Seoul and Pyongyang, will be delivered to their long-lost families and relatives on the other side.

While it is not clear how North Korea will manage the whole process, the South Korean Red Cross will send the letters to the concerned families today via special mail.

Some elderly family members in the South, upon hearing that letters from their kin in the North had arrived, visited the South Korean Red Cross headquarters personally out of a desire to read the letters as soon as possible.

Each envelope from North Korea contained two- or three-page letters, plus a photo or two, under an earlier agreement by the two Koreas.

South and North Korea agreed to hold the first inter-Korean mail correspondence during the second Red Cross talks last August. After some delay due largely to internal circumstances in the North, the date for the letter exchange was finally determined at the third talks held in January this year.

Nonetheless, it is still unclear whether the chosen family members will be able to send back replies to their long-lost families on the other side. North Korean Red Cross officials reportedly expressed skepticism at the South’s proposal that the divided families be allowed follow-up correspondence.

Seoul says it will press for more family reunions and mail exchanges at the fourth inter-Korean Red Cross talks, scheduled to open April 3.

Also to be discussed at the talks will be the venue for the permanent reunion center, which will provide a place for a large number of divided families to meet.

Family reunions and the mail exchange are considered the most tangible results of last year’s historic summit between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korea’s National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il.

There have been three rounds of inter-Korean family reunions since last August. A total of 600 dispersed family members from the two Koreas have met their families from the other side in meetings held in Seoul and Pyongyang.