Forty separated family members - 20 each from the two Koreas - on Monday held family reunions with their long-lost kin across the border via video link.

The video reunion system was officially launched Monday upon the nation’s 60th Liberation Day.

Participating family members were able to see and talk to their relatives through video
conferencing equipment that linked Seoul’s reunion center with five video reunion studios located in Daejeon and Busan and other major South Korean cities with a video center in the North.

Ahead of opening the video link, South Korea’s Red Cross President Han Wan-sang held talks with his North Korean counterpart Jang Jae-on via video and stressed that the video reunions would be a significant humanitarian way of reuniting separated family members.

Han stressed the need to expand opportunities for separated families to see or meet each other again, citing the fact that four to five-thousand people seeking their long-lost relatives across the border die of old age every year.

Han also expressed hope that the video reunions would become a peaceful link promoting communication, dialogue and negotiations between the two Koreas.

In response, Jang said he believes the video reunion will open the door to new ways of settling inter-Korean issues.

The two Koreas linked fiber optic cables connecting Munsan, Gyeonggi Province, with the North Korean border city of Gaesong last month in preparation for the event.