Seoul , South Korea ( CNN ) -- Relatives divided since 1953 reunited for the first time Saturday at a South Korean-built tourism resort in North Korea amid tensions between the two sides . Elderly men in suits and women in traditional Korean silk hanbok dresses sat at numbered tables in a large restaurant , . Many burst into tears ; some sat , spoke and exchanged photographs ; others simply looked bewildered as they clutched hands and stared into faces unseen for six decades . The relatives have been separated from since the 1950-53 Korean War . In Seoul , the scenes at a tourism resort at Mount Kumgang played on TV at a press room . `` We have held a memorial service for you every year , '' South Korean Yi Jong-sool told his North Korean elder brother , Yi Jong-ryeol , 90 . `` I ca n't believe you are alive . '' The oldest of the South Koreans , Kim Lye-jong , 96 , bear-hugged her North Korean daughter , Woo Jong-hye , 71 . Goh Yoon-sob , 81 , from North Korea met his son Koh Bae-il , 63 , from the South ; the two were separated when the son was three years old . The men clutched hands and exchanged photographs . The son appeared speechless as his father spoke to him . `` Our mother was waiting for you , but she died last year , '' South Korean Yi Yun told his older brother Yi Hwa-chun , 81 . `` If only she had lived one more year ... '' Kang Kyung-won , 79 , from North Korea sat across from his younger sister Kang Byong-sun from the South . She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief unable to speak . There were some remarkable stories . Four South Korean soldiers , initially believed killed in action in North Korea , were alive . They met their family members from the South . Some 436 South Koreans , ranging in age from 12 to 96 , met 97 family members from North Korea . But some planned reunions did not go ahead ; some relatives had died in the past few days , while others were too ill or fragile to attend . The meetings , which stretch over three days , will be bittersweet ; the chances of any of the divided family members meeting again are slim . The tragedy of the divided families dates to the 1950-1953 Korean War , when the Cold War 's division of the peninsula into two nations became permanent . Amid fighting , millions of Koreans became refugees -- either fleeing the violence or fearing political reprisals from one side or the other . In winter of 1950 , an estimated 650,000 refugees fled North Korea when United Nations forces retreated in the face of a surprise Chinese offensive . There is no direct telephone or mail contact between the two Koreas , but some families in the South have managed to broker surreptitious voice and written contact with their relatives in the North in recent years , as North Korea 's border with China has become more permeable and illegal cell phones have penetrated the insulated state . Some 80,000 South Koreans have registered with their government to join one of the infrequent reunions , but 40,000 people are believed to have passed away or given up hope , according to the South 's Ministry of Unification . Numbers north of the Korean demilitarized zone are unknown . The first family reunions took place following a landmark summit between the two Koreas in 2000 . Since then , 17,100 people representing 3,500 families have been reunited on 17 separate occasions . Seoul has been keen to make the reunions a regular event . But in recent talks on the matter , the North has demanded 500,000 metric tons of rice and 300,000 metric tons of fertilizer to make the meetings a monthly event . The event comes amid tense inter-Korean relations . The North continues to deny any involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that killed 26 sailors . Seoul , citing an international investigation , accuses Pyongyang of a torpedo attack . On Friday , the day before the reunions were due to begin , North Korean troops fired two bullets at a South Korean guard post . Southern soldiers returned three rounds , and are demanding an explanation via the United Nations ' Military Armistice Commission . But the incident has not affected the reunions .
S. Korean to N. Korean brother : `` Our mother was waiting for you , but she died last year '' Many divided family members might not see their relatives again . Families were separated during the Korean War in the 1950s . 80,000 S. Koreans have registered to join one of the infrequent reunions .