ID :
82106
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 12:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/82106
The shortlink copeid
Separated Koreans say goodbye after fleeting reunions
MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- Jin Gok-sun, 56, from South Korea grasped the hands of her younger brother, Young-ho, and sobbed, "How can I go back, leaving you here?"
As a bus carrying her headed to South Korea, the 49-year-old brother, living in
North Korea after his fishing boat "Dongjin-ho" was abducted there 22 years ago,
tried to touch her again through the window.
They were bidding farewell after three days of tear-soaked reunions here at the
Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast.
Lee Jung-soo, 69, promised his older brother Kwae-seok that they will celebrate
his 80th birthday together.
"Let's meet again next year and have parties for my 70th birthday and your 80th
birthday," the younger Lee said. Kwae-seok was taken to the North during the
1950-1953 Korean War, the conflict that left tens of thousands of families
separated between the border.
Like hundreds of other families who participated in the government-arranged
event, however, there is no guarantee that they will be able to meet again. The
latest reunions were arranged for the first time in two years after being
suspended under South Korea's Lee Myung-bak government which, unlike liberal
predecessors, took a tougher line on Pyongyang.
The two Korea's have yet to formally agree to regularizing the reunions.
Jin and Lee were among 97 selected South Koreans, many in their 70s or older, who
returned to the South after the brief meetings with their long-lost relatives.
The three-day reunions will be followed by another round of similar meetings at
the same venue from Tuesday to Thursday. For the second segment of the event, 449
South Koreans are scheduled to gather in the eastern coastal city of Sokcho on
Monday afternoon to leave together for Mount Kumgang by bus.
Millions of Koreans remain separated since the Korean War with no information on
the fate of their families, as they are not allowed cross-border communication
and travel without government approval.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
As a bus carrying her headed to South Korea, the 49-year-old brother, living in
North Korea after his fishing boat "Dongjin-ho" was abducted there 22 years ago,
tried to touch her again through the window.
They were bidding farewell after three days of tear-soaked reunions here at the
Mount Kumgang resort on the North's east coast.
Lee Jung-soo, 69, promised his older brother Kwae-seok that they will celebrate
his 80th birthday together.
"Let's meet again next year and have parties for my 70th birthday and your 80th
birthday," the younger Lee said. Kwae-seok was taken to the North during the
1950-1953 Korean War, the conflict that left tens of thousands of families
separated between the border.
Like hundreds of other families who participated in the government-arranged
event, however, there is no guarantee that they will be able to meet again. The
latest reunions were arranged for the first time in two years after being
suspended under South Korea's Lee Myung-bak government which, unlike liberal
predecessors, took a tougher line on Pyongyang.
The two Korea's have yet to formally agree to regularizing the reunions.
Jin and Lee were among 97 selected South Koreans, many in their 70s or older, who
returned to the South after the brief meetings with their long-lost relatives.
The three-day reunions will be followed by another round of similar meetings at
the same venue from Tuesday to Thursday. For the second segment of the event, 449
South Koreans are scheduled to gather in the eastern coastal city of Sokcho on
Monday afternoon to leave together for Mount Kumgang by bus.
Millions of Koreans remain separated since the Korean War with no information on
the fate of their families, as they are not allowed cross-border communication
and travel without government approval.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
