The reunion was an outpouring of joy and relief but also sorrow.
Kim Yu-jum, now aged 100, was separated from her 16-year-old daughter in the chaos of war and they ended up on separate sides of the front line.
"For the past half-century I've never forgotten her. Every day I thought of her," she told the BBC.
Widow Lee Sun-ok, 80, travelled to North Korea to meet two younger sisters and one younger brother for the first time in 60 years.
"I never thought I could see them again," she told the Associated Press. "I can die after visiting the North with no regrets."
The BBC's John Sudworth, in Seoul, say that with many relatives in their 80s and 90s, it is likely to be their only chance to see their families.
The six-day reunion event is being organised by the Unification Ministry which handles inter-Korean affairs.
Reunions were last held in October 2007.
North Korea agreed last month to resume them as part of a slight easing of tensions with South Korea and the US over its nuclear and missile programmes.
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I can die after visiting the North with no regrets
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