the 1950 - 1953 Korean War separated many Korean families members of those families could not communicate with each other and they did not even know if their family was alive for the first time in 60 years South and North Korea agree to hold reunions about 400 South Korean travel to the border to meet 96 of their North Korean family members South Korean families were told to avoid a long list of topics including the north political situation or living standards they were even given a guidebook on what to talk about