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Around 80 elderly South Koreans met privately on Friday with North Korean relatives they hadn’t seen for 60 years, but several complained the moment was tainted by political indoctrination.
On the second day of the first North-South reunion for more than three years of families divided by the Korean war, the relatives were allowed to meet on their own, without the TV cameras that intruded on their first emotional gathering the day before.
The event, held at a mountain resort in North Korea, was only secured after intense North-South negotiations, and has been seen by many as a possible first step towards improved inter-Korean co-operation.
Watch: Emotional gatherings as divided Koreans meet after 60 years

It followed a rare concession from North Korea, which had originally threatened to cancel if the South and the United States pushed ahead with annual joint military drills that begin on Monday.
In an apparent goodwill gesture, Seoul on Friday approved the shipment by two private aid groups for close to US$1 million worth of tuberculosis medicine and powdered milk to North Korea.
After the private meetings, a number of the South Korean participants complained that their Northern relatives had felt obliged to deliver political sermons parroting Pyongyang’s official propaganda.

	They heaped abuse on the US troops and said re-unification was only possible if they pull out

	Kim Dong-bin
“I was a bit worn out due to all their political comments,” said Choi Don-myung after the three-hour meeting with her brother and his daughter.
Choi also voiced surprise that they had refused to accept the gifts she had brought, saying they had all they needed.
Kim Dong-bin, 81, said the two sisters he had come to see spent a substantial amount of time condemning the continued presence of US troops in South Korea.
“They heaped abuse on the US troops and said re-unification was only possible if they pull out,” Kim said.
The 82 South Korean participants, with an average age of 84 and some so frail they had to be moved by ambulance, arrived at the resort midday on Thursday after crossing the heavily-militarised border in a convoy of 10 buses.
After a brief lunch, they were led into a banquet hall where they first came face-to-face with the 180 North Korean relatives they had applied to see.
Some simply embraced and sobbed, while others stared and stroked each other’s faces, seemingly unable to believe that they were in the same room.
Photos were exchanged and lovingly pored over, including old black-and-white ones of the family when it was together as well as brand new colour pictures of husbands, wives, children and grandchildren that neither side knew even existed.
Taking DNA samples 
For some people, faded photos of infant siblings weren’t enough.
One South Korean man who came to be reunited with a younger brother he could barely remember, insisted on taking some hair samples to confirm they really were related.
“I’m going to get some DNA tests done,” he said.
Tens of millions of people were displaced by the sweep of the 1950-53 Korean war, which saw the frontline yo-yo from the south of the Korean peninsula to the northern border with China and back again.
The chaos and devastation separated brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives.
Because the conflict concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas technically remain at war and direct exchanges of letters or telephone calls are prohibited.
The reunion programme began in earnest after a historic North-South summit in 2000, but the numbers clamouring for a chance to participate have always far outstripped those actually selected.
For many people, time simply ran out. Last year alone, 3,800 South Koreans who had applied for reunions died.
Of the 82 South Koreans attending the current reunion, 14 needed wheelchairs and two were forced to return home a day early for health reasons.
One of those was Hong Sin-ja, 84, who left after a private meeting with her younger North Korean sister.
“I want to go back together with my sister,” Hong said before she was lifted into an ambulance for the journey back to the South.
“There is no way to describe how heartbroken and sad I feel. I’m worried even though she says she has been living well.”
On Saturday comes probably the most traumatic moment of all: a farewell ceremony that both sides understand – given their advanced ages – marks the last time they will ever see each other.


Politics intrude at emotional Korean family reunion 

A North Korean man escorts his relatives to the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea, on Friday. Photo: AP

North Korean Kim Jin-cheon (right), 66, looks at his South Korean father Kim Seom-kyung, 91, lying on a stretcher inside an ambulance as Kim Seom-kyung prepare to leave for South Korea due to health reasons on Friday. Photo: Reuters

South Korean Kim Sun-yeon, 80, looks at pictures of her North Korean sister and her sister's husband given to her during their family reunion on Friday.  Photo: Reuters

Bittersweet tears as divided Koreans meet after 60 years 

South Korean Lee Young-shil, 87 (right) meets with her North Korean sister Lee Jong Shil, 84, during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea, on Thursday. Photo: AP

South Korean Park Yang-gon (right), 53, and his North Korean brother Park Yang-su, who was abducted by North Korea, cry during their family reunion on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Kim Song-Yun (right) of South Korea embraces her sister Kim Seok-Ryo of North Korea. Photo: AFP

Lee Son-hyang, 88, (left) of South Korea and Lee Yoon Geun, 72 of North Korea embrace. Photo: AFP

The convoy carrying the South Koreans crosses the border and enters North Korea. Photo: Reuters

Korean families are reduced to tears as they are reunited. Photo: AP

'I want to see them before I die': Elderly South Koreans head to reunion with family in North 

Choi Jeong-ho, 91, leaves for North Korea's Mount Kumgang along with others selected for the much-awaited reunions. Photo: EPA

Jang Choon holds up a a picture of his youngest brother Jang Ha-choon. Many of those heading to the reunions brought gifts and mementos. Photo: Reuters

Kim Dong-bin. Photo: AFP

South Korean buses carrying the family members leave for Kumgang. Photo: Reuters

Heo Kyung-ok, 86, waves from a bus heading to North Korea's Mount Kumgang. Photo: EPA

Kim Sun-kyum, 91, wanted to participate in the reunion - even if he required a stretcher. Photo: AP

Koreans gather ahead of long-awaited family reunions

North Korean-born Kim Se-rim leaves his house in Seoul as he prepares to make his way to a reunion of families from North and South Korea separated by the war. Photo: AFP

South Korean Lee Kyun-myoung, 93, fills out application forms to reunite with his family members living in North Korea. Photo: AP

Politics intrude at emotional Korean family reunion

South Koreans complain reunions tainted by political indoctrination