Cries and Hugs at Reunion of Families in North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — After first applying for a reunion with his North Korean family more than two decades ago, Kim Ki-sung, an 82-year-old South Korean, never gave up. This month, he applied again and beat the long odds to win one of only 100 slots available for a three-day family reunion that began in a North Korean resort on Saturday.
For Mr. Kim, the reunion brought some sad news. On Saturday, he learned that his wife, whom he last saw in January 1951 during the Korean War, died years ago. But he did greet his son, Jong-hyun, 63, and his daughter, Soon-ae, 61, who knelt on the floor and bowed to him.
“I am sorry I didn’t take you with me when I fled,” Mr. Kim said, remembering the day he joined the flood of refugees and United Nations troops retreating to the South as Chinese troops barreled down the peninsula, turning the tide of the war. “I am sorry. What else can I say?”
Shouts of joy and tearful cries filled a reunion station as 97 older South Koreans, some in wheelchairs and some assisted by relatives, hugged 228 North Korean relatives whom they last saw during the war. Three South Koreans became too ill on the eve of the reunion to make the cross-border trip by bus.
The meetings were the first family reunions in nearly two years and offered a rare scene of reconciliation on the peninsula, which has recently been locked in political tension over the North’s nuclear weapons program.
The travails of separated families symbolize the pain of the Korean political divide. Their reunions stir powerful emotions among Koreans on both sides who believe they must one day reunify into a single nation. No mail, telephone calls or e-mail exchanges are allowed between ordinary citizens from the two sides.
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For Mr. Kim, the reunion brought some sad news. On Saturday, he learned that his wife, whom he last saw in January 1951 during the Korean War, died years ago. But he did greet his son, Jong-hyun, 63, and his daughter, Soon-ae, 61, who knelt on the floor and bowed to him.
“I am sorry I didn’t take you with me when I fled,” Mr. Kim said, remembering the day he joined the flood of refugees and United Nations troops retreating to the South as Chinese troops barreled down the peninsula, turning the tide of the war. “I am sorry. What else can I say?”
Shouts of joy and tearful cries filled a reunion station as 97 older South Koreans, some in wheelchairs and some assisted by relatives, hugged 228 North Korean relatives whom they last saw during the war. Three South Koreans became too ill on the eve of the reunion to make the cross-border trip by bus.
The meetings were the first family reunions in nearly two years and offered a rare scene of reconciliation on the peninsula, which has recently been locked in political tension over the North’s nuclear weapons program.
The travails of separated families symbolize the pain of the Korean political divide. Their reunions stir powerful emotions among Koreans on both sides who believe they must one day reunify into a single nation. No mail, telephone calls or e-mail exchanges are allowed between ordinary citizens from the two sides.