S Koreans head to N Korea for reunions

A group of elderly South Koreans left for North Korea Saturday for brief reunions with relatives they have not seen in more than 50 years as the two sides resumed the humanitarian programme after a two-year hiatus.

Lim Man-Yop, 92, will meet with two daughters whom she left behind as she fled to the South in 1951 at the peak of the Korean War.“I had five children and left two with my parents while taking three others with me,” as she fled from advancing North Korean and Chinese troops.

“I thought the separation would be over quite soon. I never thought it would last for 59 years,” she told journalists.

She prepared duck down winter coats for her North Korean daughters.

Ko Sang-Do, 79, will meet his brother, from whom he has been separated since Ko left his home town of Kaepung County to join the South Korean army during the war.

He was unable to return home as Kaepung, which originally belonged to the South before the war, was occupied by the North during the war, which was confirmed by an armistice in 1953.“I was overwhelmed by emotions and spent many sleepless nights,” he said.

A total of 100 South Koreans were chosen for the reunion programme but three pulled out at the last moment due to their frailty or injury.Park Yang-Sil, 96, was the oldest among the 100 South Koreans initially chosen for reunions.But she had to give up her travel to the North to meet her 61-year-old daughter after Park slept on the road and injured her waist.

“I always feel guilty as I failed to take care of my daughter. This makes it worse, as I can’t see her now,” she said.The group of 97 South Koreans, including eight in their 90s and 52 octogenarians, drove Saturday through the heavily fortified inter-Korean border towards the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s east coast.

The reunion programme had been suspended for two years as ties between Pyongyang and Seoul’s conservative government grew frostier. The communist state has agreed to resume them as part of a series of recent peace overtures.There are no civilian mail or telephone services between the two countries.For three days starting Saturday afternoon, the 97 South Koreans will be reunited with their 240 relatives in the North who were found to be still alive and able to travel.

-AFP