Koreans to meet after decades apart
GENEVA (AFP) – From his native Africa to the United States, tributes poured in from top leaders around the world Sunday after UN chief, Nobel peace laureate, and ''diplomatic rock star'' Kofi Annan died at the age of 80.
The Ghanaian national was a career diplomat who projected quiet charisma and was widely credited for raising the world body's profile in global politics during his two terms as head of the UN from 1997 to 2006.
The first secretary general from sub-Saharan Africa, Annan led the United Nations through the divisive years of the Iraq war and was later accused of corruption in the oil-for-food scandal, one of the most trying times of his tenure.
Annan ''astutely guided the United Nations organization into the 21st century defining an ambitious agenda that had made the UN truly indispensable to peace, prosperity and human dignity around the world,'' Annan's successor as UN secretary general, Ban
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Lee Soo-nam was eight the last time he saw his older brother. Sixty-eight years ago this month the boy watched, bewildered, as his 18-year-old brother left their home in Seoul to escape invading North Korean soldiers who were conscripting young men just weeks after invading South Korea to start the Korean War.
An hour later his brother, Ri Jong Song, was snatched up by North Korean soldiers near a bridge across Seoul's Han River. Lee always assumed Ri died during the three-year war that killed and injured millions before a cease-fire in 1953, but his mother prayed daily for her lost son's return, only giving up a few years before her death in 1975.
But Ri survived the war, living in North Korea. The brothers, now 76 and 86, will be among hundreds of Koreans who will participate, starting Monday, in a week of temporary Ki-moon, said in a statement.
Annan's family said he had passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness.
Annan, who lived not far from the UN European headquarters in Geneva, died in hospital in the Germanspeaking reunions of divided families. Many have had no contact with each other since the war cemented the division of the peninsula into the North and South.
The elderly relatives gathering at North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountain resort know that, given the fickle nature of ties between the rival Koreas, this could be the last time they see each other before they die.
Since the end of the war, both Koreas have banned ordinary citizens from visiting relatives on the other side of the border or contacting them without permission. Nearly 20,000 people have participated in 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions since 2000. No one has had a second chance to see their relatives.
This week’s reunions come after a three-year hiatus during which North Korea tested three nuclear weapons and multiple missiles that demonstrated the potential of striking the continental United States. part of the country, Swiss news agency ATS reported.
Current UN chief Antonio Guterres described his predecessor as ''a guiding force for good.''
''In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations,'' he said.
''He rose through the ranks to lead the organization into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination.''
The UN said it would fly flags at half mast at all of its locations around the world through Tuesday.
And Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for ''one of our greatest compatriots.''
In 2001, as the world was reeling from the September 11 attacks in the United States, Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the world body ''for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.''
Born in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana's Ashanti region, Annan devot-
At past meetings, elderly relatives — some relying on wheelchairs or walking sticks — have wept, hugged and caressed each other in a rush of emotions. According to Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles interKorean affairs, more than 500 separated South Koreans and their family members will cross the border for two separate rounds of reunions between Aug. 20 and 26. ed four decades of his working life to the UN and was the first chief to rise from within the organization's ranks.
In 1993, he took over as peacekeeping chief – a position he held through two of the UN's darkest chapters: the Rwandan genocide and the Bosnian war.
Annan left the post as one of the most popular UN leaders ever, and was considered a ''diplomatic rock star'' in international diplomatic circles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his ''wisdom and courage,'' while German Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrated the ''exceptional statesman in the service of the global community.''
President Donald Trump had yet to comment, but the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Annan ''worked tirelessly to unite us and never stopped fighting for the dignity of every person.''
Former US president Barack Obama earlier said Annan ''embodied the mission of the United Nations like few others.''
''Kofi Annan was a truly great UN Secretary-General,'' former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in a statement.