More Koreans Reunited After Delay

After an acerbic quarrel and a day’s delay, 15 North Koreans visiting Seoul for the first time since the 1950-53 Korean War on Sunday met relatives gathered for the reunions.

The meetings came only after the South Korean Red Cross compromised on a North Korean demand for privacy for the reunited families. North Korean officials had announced Saturday that the 15 did not want to meet their relatives in front of television cameras.

Although the first 15 minutes of encounters Sunday between the 15 North Koreans and their South Korean relatives were held under the glare of TV lights, they then were allowed another 90 minutes of conversation in private.

Fifteen other North Koreans, who presumably did not object to the media presence, met their relatives here Saturday, and a similar delegation of South Koreans visited family members in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The reunions were arranged by the Red Cross societies of the two Koreas.

The exchange of visits was the first fruit of 14 years of negotiations. The two delegations are to return to their home countries today, crossing the border simultaneously at the truce village of Panmunjom.