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South Korea Proposes Regular Family Reunions


South Korean President Park Geun-hye, center, cheers with her national flag during a ceremony to celebrate the Independence Movement Day, in Seoul, March 1, 2014.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, center, cheers with her national flag during a ceremony to celebrate the Independence Movement Day, in Seoul, March 1, 2014.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has proposed to North Korea that the rivals hold regularly-scheduled reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

In a speech Saturday marking the 95th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japanese colonialization, Park said that regular family reunions should be held because time is running out for the elderly people separated by politics and the early 1950's war.

The two Koreas ended a six-day reunion of families on Tuesday at the North's Mount Kumgang resort. It was the first reunion in more than three years.

There have been several reunions since they first began in 1985, but they have fluctuated depending on the state of Korean relations.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and AP.
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