Video source: People's Daily/ Chen Shangwen

Sokcho (People's Daily) - Eighty-nine elderly South Koreans left for North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort to meet their family members in the North who have been separated from them for over 60 years.

An old man waves as he leaves Sokcho, South Korea to see his family in North Korea on Monday. (Photos: Chen Shangwen)

During the three-day reunion, people from the North and South will have group and individual meetings, as well as banquets, according to South’s Unification Ministry. A second round of family reunions will be held from August 24 to 26, with 83 people from North Korea seeing their relatives in South Korea.

Baek Seong-kyu, 101, is the oldest South Korean participant in the reunion. He will see his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

“This is the best day of my life,”said a participant.

Lee Keum-seom, 91, arrives at the meeting point in Sokcho on Aug. 19. She will see her son after being separated for over 60 years.

More than 132,000 South Koreans have registered as separated family members, with over 75,000 dead, according to data as of May from South Korea’s Unification Ministry. Nearly 90 percent of those who are still living are above the age of 70.

Two people hold a family portrait.

(Video edited by Qiao Wai)