Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Families torn apart for more than 60 years -- separated by the Korean War -- began to reunite at a mountain resort in North Korea Thursday.
Without any regular forms of communications between the two Koreas, the family members have gone decades without phone calls, letters or emails -- unable to know whether their loved ones are alive or dead.
The majority of the participants in South Korea are now in their 80s and 90s. The meetings are likely to be the last time the separated families will have contact with one another.
Thursday's reunion is the first since November 2010. The negotiations leading to the expected reunions have also been painstaking, reflecting the tensions between North and South Korean governments.