Time is running out for elderly people in both Koreas longing to meet their long-lost relatives across the border.

Family reunions have been on hold since October 2010 following North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean warship and artillery firing on a border island in the West Sea.

Over the previous 10 years, the two countries held meetings for the families displaced by the Korean War around major holidays such as Liberation Day on Aug. 15 and Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving.

Pyongyang effectively rejected last week calls from South Korea’s Red Cross to hold talks on Aug. 17 for a fresh round of gatherings. The North put forward preconditions ― an end to economic sanctions and resumption of tourism to Mount Geumgang, which Seoul sees as unlikely for now.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)