South Korea on Monday will select 500 preliminary candidates for the upcoming reunion of families separated by the Korean War.

The Korean Red Cross said it will hold a session to decide the selection criteria at 10 a.m. before conducting a computer-based selection of 500 candidates at 11 a.m. at its office in Seoul.

Out of about 57-thousand applicants for the reunion set for August 20th to 26th, 500 candidates will be randomly picked by a computer program, with priority given to the elderly and those with direct family members in the North. 

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to exchange preliminary lists of 200 candidates next Tuesday after a second selection round based on health conditions and willingness to join.

The final list of 100 South Korean family members will be made after checking whether their relatives in North Korea are still alive. The two Koreas will exchange the final lists on August fourth. 

[Photo : KBS News]