Korean families are again reuniting after a separation of over 50 years. This is the 17th such reunion, started by the Red Cross, but on hold for two years because of tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program. Following is a teaser from an article on the Voice of America website.
North and South Korean families have begun the process of meeting with long lost relatives separated by the
Korean divide. Most are in their 80s or older, and have not seen each other for more than 50 years.
More than 90 South Koreans passed through checkpoints Saturday to cross the heavily armed border between North and South Korea, on their way to bittersweet reunions half a century in the making.
Buses transported the elderly South Koreans to North Korea’s Kumgang Mountain resort, where they got the chance to see family members they left behind in the early 1950s.
South Korean broadcasters have begun relaying images of the families exchanging their first words in decades, along with laughter and tears.
North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, unleashing three years of war. Many Koreans fled to the South, leaving wives, husbands, sons, and daughters behind.
Read the full article in the September 26, 2009 edition of Voice of America.
