Korean Families Separated For Over Six Decades Reunite Amidst Tears Of Joy
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Kim Kwang-ho, 80, thought he was going to be away from his younger brother for two days or a week when he was 14-years-old. But, It took a wait of 66 long years to meet his younger brother Kim Kwang-il. Kwang-ho had fled to South with his father and older siblings as his younger brother and mother stayed back in North Korea. He does not even remember how his younger looked during the childhood as reported by BBC.

But, after almost six decades of being separated because of the Korean-war, families finally got the chance to reunite with their loved ones. More than 500 family members from North Korea and South Korea reunited over this week.


The Reunion



One of the reunited family members was that of a mother-son duo of Ms Lee Geum-Seom and his son Ri Sang-Chol. The son, aged 71, was brought down to tears when he met his 92-year old mother. Similarly, Kim Sun Ok, an 81-year-old lady, claimed that she looked quite a lot like her 88-year-old sibling from South Korea. “Brother, it would be really good if Korean unification comes. Let’s live together even at least one minute after unification before we die,” the woman said tearfully as reported by ABC news.

As many as 57,000 South-Koreans have signed up for the reunion in hope that they would meet their loved ones across the heavily fortified border. Although every year, over 3,000 elderly Koreans die without having their wish fulfilled. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed on having another session to reunite families, in a summit in April. The last such reunion happened in 2015.

As per reports, candidates in North Korea are chosen by how well the applicants adhere to the Northern regime. Whereas, the South follows a lottery system.

The South Korean President, Moon Jae-in has been making persistent efforts to build a bedrock of trust between the two nations since his brief meeting with the Northern leader in April and by his presence in Kim Jong’s Summit meeting with President Trump, earlier in June.

As Mr Moon acted on his wish to reunite as many families as possible, he told the New York Times, “They are dying without even finding out whether their loved ones are alive. This is a situation both the South and North Korea governments must consider extremely shameful.”


The History

The Korean war began on June 25, 1950, between the North and South Korea. It began when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border. The Republic of South Korea got independence on 15th August 1948. On 25 June 1950, following a series of clashes along the border, the Korean War broke out when North invaded South Korea. The United States, the most powerful force came forward to support South Korea, while North Korea was backed by China and Russia. This battle took lives of 1 million or more people in North and South Korea, and more than 1.80 lakh people went missing.


The Logical Indian take

It is extremely saddening that in this given time and era families are being kept apart on the grounds of political agendas and standoffs over the North’s nuclear weapons program. Although the effort of rectifying this error is being actively made, it is high time to act on the human aspect of war and its catastrophic effects on people, families and love that has lost its way amidst


Also Read: North And South Korea Agree To Put An Official End To The Seven Decade Long War

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Editor : The Logical Indian

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