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Separated Families Reunite at Mt. Geumgang

2003-06-30

MT. GEUMGANG - A group of South Koreans met their North Korean relatives here in a mountain resort on Friday (June 27), bridging more than half a century of separation.

The 110 South Koreans, selected from nearly 100,000 applicants, broke down in tears upon finally meeting their Northern kin in the afternoon at the Kim Jong-suk Recreation Home, named after the mother of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean head of state.

For three centenarians in the delegation, their happiness couldn't be greater.

Yo Sun-dok, 102 years old, met with her daughter Jong Wan-ok, 59, who was only six years old, when her mother left her behind in the North. The mother, hard of hearing, broke down in tears.

Living in Goseong, Gangwon Province during the war, all of Yo's family fled to the mountains to avoid contact with soldiers. A moonlight venture into town to fetch food for her family has resulted in more than 50 years of separation.

Living in isolation in the same Goseong region, just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, Yo adopted a former North Korean soldier Pyo Jin-myo, 73, who was also cut off from his family in the North.

Others over 100 years of age, Park Young-chol, 101, and Lee Ung-kyu, 100, both met with sons they left behind in the North. The two were formerly North Korean prisoners-of-war who ended up in the South.

Kim Sin-chae, 83, murmured words of pained regret to his second youngest son Yong-chun.

"You said three days. I remember the promise," his son said, eyes welling up with tears. Little Yong-chun followed his father all the way to Pyongyang Station telling him how he must return in three days.

To keep his promise, the father, who was conscripted into the North Korean army, attempted in vain to break out of a war prisoner camp on Geoje Island in 1951.

Kim Hwa-sil, 83, who raised her children alone in the North, wept as she watched the father-son reunion.

Individual reunions will continue in the rooms of the South Koreans at the Haegeumgang Hotel on Saturday.

Another group of some 400 South Koreans will visit this mountain resort from June 30-July 2 for a reunion with 100 family members from North Korea.

Family reunions have been held a total of seven times since August 2000 in the wake of inter-Korean reconciliation efforts which gained momentum with the historic inter-Korean summit two months earlier.

Source : www.korea.net