Korean Families Reunited Social Media
Siblings long assumed dead and parents who were separated from their children have come confront to face for the first time in more than six decades as 89 families from the ii Koreas were reunited in North korea on Monday.
The reunions, the first in three years, are a symbol of the painful divisions that remain long afterwards the terminate of the 1950-53 Korean war. Families embraced and many cried to the bespeak of beingness unable to speak for several minutes.
Han Shin-ja, 99, was reunited with ii of her daughters, 72 and 71, both wearing traditional Korean hanbok dresses. All iii were overcome with emotion equally they held each other close. "When I fled home in the war …" Han began to say, before becoming too choked up to speak.
The wear, which the two countries have in mutual, is a reminder of their shared history, but the significance of the meeting was made even more powerful by the fact that if by reunions are any indication, this will be their only chance to come across.
"Uncles, take my deep bow," said Seo Soon-gyo, 55, equally her 87-yr-sometime begetter, Seo Jin-ho, met two younger brothers, Chan Ho and Won Ho.
About 330 Due south Koreans from 89 families, many of them in wheelchairs, gathered with 185 lost relatives from Due north Korea, embracing with tears, joy and disbelief.
The brief reunions, which will terminal only 11 hours, took identify in the Due north Korean tourist resort on Mount Kumgang. The two Koreas renewed exchanges this yr following a collision over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.
Lee Su-nam, from South korea, saw his brother Lee Jong-seong for the offset time in 68 years. In an interview with the Guardian before the reunion he described himself every bit very lucky to accept the opportunity, only added: "I think there'southward going to be a lot of deviation, in the linguistic communication, in the way of thinking, and the lifestyles we lived. I can't ask him what kind of jobs he'southward had and the troubles he's had under the N Korean regime."
On Mon he wept so hard that North Korean staff had to console him.
The reunions highlight the stark differences that remain between the ii countries. South Koreans prepared gifts for their relatives, often basic necessities such as wintertime jackets, socks, underwear, medicine, toothpaste and food. Choco Pies, a marshmallow between 2 pieces of block and covered in chocolate, are particularly popular in Democratic people's republic of korea, and were previously offered as bonuses to workers in joint manufacturing projects.
Families are discouraged from giving greenbacks, for fear it may be taken by Due north Korean authorities, and the South Korean regime has told its citizens to politely refuse any gifts with propagandistic overtones.
In South korea, virtually 132,600 individuals are listed as coming from separated families, simply the Red Cross has just identified 57,000 survivors. Of those, 41% are in their 80s and 21% are in their 90s, according to regime data. The ii countries have conducted 20 rounds of reunions since they began in 2000.
The South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, himself a member of a separated family from Northward Korea's eastern port metropolis of Hungnam, said on Mon that the reunions should be sharply scaled upwards, held regularly and include exchanges of visits and letters.
"It is a shame for both governments in the Southward and the North that many of the families have passed away without knowing whether or not their lost relatives were alive," Moon told a coming together with presidential secretaries. "Expanding and accelerating family reunions is a top priority amidst humanitarian projects to exist carried out by the ii Koreas."
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