South Korean officials visit North Korea over heavy snowfall

Five South Korean officials visited North Korea on Tuesday to assess the situation after heavy snowfall pounded the venue for upcoming reunions for families separated for six decades. The trip comes as nine South Korean snow clearing vehicles have been removing snow around Mount Kumgang, a North Korean scenic resort on the east coast, where around 2 meters of snow fell ahead of family reunions. South and North Korea agreed last week to stage the reunions at the resort from Feb. 20-25, a move Seoul indicates could help improve cross-border relations after months of tensions. Last year, the North carried out a third nuclear test and threatened to launch nuclear attacks against South Korea and the United States. "We will make our utmost efforts to ensure that the reunions can take place without a hitch," a South Korean official handling the reunions said, referring to South Korea's snow-removal efforts in the North's resort. Family reunions are a pressing humanitarian issue on the divided peninsula, as most of the separated family members are in their 70s and 80s, and wish to see their long-lost relatives before they die. The Koreas have held more than a dozen rounds of reunions since their landmark summit in 2000, bringing together more than 21,700 family members who had not seen each other since the 1950-53 Korean War. Millions of Koreans remain separated since the conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty