USA TODAY International Edition
Emotional reunions for families split by Korean War
89 elderly S. Koreans embrace relatives
SEOUL – Scores of elderly South Koreans crossed the heavily guarded border to the North on Monday for emotional reunions with relatives they had not seen for more than 65 years.
The 89 South Koreans, most of them in their 70s and 80s and some in wheelchairs, traveled by bus from the port city of Sokcho to a resort in Mount Kumgang on North Korea’s east coast to meet with family members from whom they had been separated during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
Local television carried footage of the encounters, showing the South Koreans slowly making their way into the resort’s ballroom, clutching weathered photographs and breaking down as they met their long-lost relatives.
Lee Keum-seon, 92, was reunited with her son Sang-chul, only 4 when they were separated in the chaos of the war. “I went out to the river and cried every day for a year,” Lee said before setting out for the trip to North Korea. “He won’t recognize me now.”
The mother and son clutched hands and pressed their faces together when they finally met, wiping away tears, their faces a mix of disbelief and wonder. The scene was echoed around the room as brothers, sisters, parents and children encountered relatives who had been lost for almost a lifetime.
Many of the South Koreans did not have any surviving direct family members, and they met with cousins, nephews and nieces and in-laws – often for the first time.
The participants were chosen by a lottery. The oldest was a 101-year-old man. For most remaining separated families, time is running short.
About 57,000 South Koreans are registered with the Red Cross to participate in the reunion program, and more than 60 percent of them are older than 80. More than half of the 132,000 people who originally registered for the reunions have died, and 3,500 to 3,800 more on the list die every year –
“Expanding and speeding up the reunion of separated families is among the top priority for humanitarian projects that North and South Korea should do.”
South Korean President Moon Jae-in
about 10 people a day, according to the Korean Red Cross.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in called the many family members who have died without having a chance to meet their relatives “a shame for both the South and the North governments.”
Moon called for accelerating the reunions, as well as more contact such as exchanging letters and visiting hometowns.
“Expanding and speeding up the reunion of separated families is among the top priority for humanitarian projects that North and South Korea should do,” he said.
Over three days, the reunited families will have six meetings, with most of their encounters heavily supervised. Only a single lunch meeting will be in private.
A second round of reunions will be held at the resort from Thursday to Sunday, in which 83 North Koreans who were selected will meet with relatives from the South.
Monday’s reunion was the first since October 2015, when the program was halted over rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.