WHAT’S THE STORY? A POIGNANT meeting between two octogenarians, torn apart just seven months after their wedding, has painted a stark picture of the human tragedy of the 1950-53 Korean War. It is the first time in 65 years that South Korean Lee Soon-kyu (85) and her husband Oh Se In (83) have seen each other but their brief reunion may well be their last. They are just two of the family members permitted to see each other after decades of separation. “Stay healthy! Live long!” Soon-kyu begged her husband who has never met his son. Soon-kyu was pregnant when they were forced apart. The couple are part of the first batch of relatives allowed to meet in a series of brief meetings over a period of three days. They are in a 390-strong group of South Koreans who were allowed to travel to a mountain resort in the North for the reunion. A second contingent of 250 South Koreans will be reunited with their loved ones at the resort near the border tomorrow.


ORCHESTRATED TENS of thousands of Koreans are desperate for reunions with their families in the North but only a few hundred are ever lucky enough to be chosen.

Almost 130,000 South Koreans signed up to the government’s database to register family in the North but half of those have since died without ever being reunited. Around 66,000 are still hoping for the chance to see their loved ones in the carefully orchestrated reunions that have been taking place since 2000 after the first inter-Korean summit. Split during the chaos of the civil war, many were not even able to save keepsakes or photographs of their loved ones. Unable to write letters because there is no postal service between the two countries, 89-year-old Lee Taek-gu said he still wrote long epistles to his family that he could never send as a way of dealing with his grief. His parents died without him ever seeing them again but he has been allowed to meet his “kid” sister, 20 years his junior. He last saw her when she was just a little girl before he fled south by boat, believing he would be able to go home after the war. Like many others who left, he had no idea he would never see his parents again. When, dressed in a new hat and best jacket, he met his sister he told reporters he had simply thanked her for still being alive.

WEEPING TIGHT border controls continue as the two Koreas are still technically at war after the three-year conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. No phone calls or emails are allowed between the two countries. The intermittent reunions – which take place only when tensions are at less than full-scale paranoia level between the two Koreas – are organised by the Red Cross but are strictly controlled by North Korea, to the extent that the families barely have time to chat once they’ve finished weeping. The South Koreans are given a guide book warning them on topics to avoid such as politics, food shortages, the economy or anything that would reflect badly on the three generations of Kim dictators. “It’s desirable to avoid an expression that North Korea might misunderstand even though you are curious,” said the guidebook. “Political comments, like criticism of North Korea’s leadership and economic situation, may put your family members in a difficult situation.” Gifts are also monitored; nothing can be given that indicates the comparative wealth of the capitalist south and the maximum amount of money that can be offered is US $1500. Vitamins, toothpaste and winter clothes are allowed as well as watches and cosmetics that cost less than $88. North Korean officials look on constantly during the reunion meetings and the family members are not allowed to sleep as a family. “We should have been given more time,” wept 83-year-old Jang Cheon who was able to meet up with his younger sister and brother at the last reunion 18 months ago. “We should have been allowed to sleep in the same room. It had been so long since we’d seen each other that we just cried when we met. But then it was like the meeting was over just as we managed to stop weeping. “They’ve changed so much. We could only reunite after our hair turned nearly white,” he said. Jeon Ho-yeon (82) met his 79-year-old North Korean brother and said afterwards: “I had a lot of things I wanted to ask, like about how my father and mother had lived before they died, but I couldn’t because I had to be sensitive about everything. We didn’t have any talks worth remembering. I saw his face, learned that my parents were dead, but that was it.”

HUMAN RIGHTS TWENTY-FIVE meetings have been held so far with the latest a result of a deal in August that ended a military stand-off between the two countries. Almost 19,000 Koreans have been allowed face-to-face meetings and another 3,750 permitted brief video links. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday (thurs) stressed that humanitarian measures like this should not be subject to political security and considerations. He also urged for more dialogue between the two governments to “contribute to the promotion of human rights, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula”. The 1950-53 Korean War arose from the division of Korea and the tensions caused by the Cold War following the Second World War. Ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of the Second World War, the US occupied the south after Japan surrendered while the Soviet Union, with agreement from the US, occupied the north. However, neither government recognised the other as legitimate. Border conflicts escalated into full-scale war when North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union, invaded the south in 1950, catching the US on the hop. After two months, South Korea was on the point of defeat but a UN counter-offensive, mostly made up of US troops, forced the invaders back. Chinese intervention stopped the retreat and a war of attrition ensued which lasted until an armistice was signed in July 1953 creating the Korean demilitarized zone to separate the North and South.