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Koreans gather ahead of longed-for family reunion
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A group of 82 elderly, specially-selected South Koreans gathered at a coastal resort yesterday prior to crossing into North Korea for the first reunion in more than three years for the peninsula’s divided families.
With an average age of 84, they were accompanied by 58 family members for physical and emotional support as they prepared to meet relatives last seen decades before.
One infirm 91-year-old made the 140 kilometer journey from his home north of Seoul by ambulance, while 14 others were in wheelchairs. All were to spend the night in the Hanwha resort in the eastern port city of Sokcho before an early start to the heavily-fortified border nearby and then on to another resort located on North Korea’s Mount Kumgang.
Their challenging, highly emotional journey is the result of a hard-won agreement between both North and South Korea to resume reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The reunion program had been suspended since 2010 when North Korea shelled a South Korean border island.
Having had their hopes shattered when Pyongyang canceled a reunion planned for last September, many were wary when the two sides agreed to hold an event from February 20-25 at Mount Kumgang.
The accord almost fell apart when North Korea took exception to overlapping joint military drills by South Korea and the US, and was saved by some rare high-level talks last week.
Lee Ok-ran, 84, said she had barely been able to sleep at the prospect of seeing the two sisters she left behind in North Korea’s Hwanghae province.
South Korean TV showed her at home carefully packing bundles of gifts, ranging from underwear and analgesic patches to Choco Pies — a chocolate and marshmallow biscuit snack. “I’ve heard Choco Pies are popular and expensive in North Korea,” Lee said.
“Ok-Bin, Ok-Hi, I’m waiting to hug you hard and dance together,” she said, calling her sisters’ names.
Kim Se-rin, 85, worried whether he would be able to recognize his sister when he finally meets her. “She’s 81 now, I wonder what she looks like.”
“I have waited 64 years for this,” said Kim, who left his home in North Korea after the outbreak of war in 1950 to join the South Korean army. “This is it. My last chance.”
Millions of Koreans were separated by the 1950-53 war, and the vast majority have since died without having any contact with relatives.
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