By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter



Chung Yong-ae, left, and Chung Yong-im react as they meet their North Korean brother, Chung Byong-yun, through a television screen at the video family reunion session in Seoul, Monday. The cable linking Seoul and Pyongyang was used for the first ever video reunions of families torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War. /AP-Yonhap

Long-buried emotions flooded out as separated family members from South and North Korea were reunited through a video linkup Monday during joint celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of liberation.
The video reunions, broadcast live on South Korean television, drew tears of sympathy from viewers watching the emotional meetings of the now elderly relatives who were separated from each other during the Korean War (1950-53).

The Red Cross chiefs of the two Koreas opened the link with exchanges of congratulatory messages on the screen by the South’s Han Wan-sang in a videoconferencing room at the Red Cross headquarters in Seoul and the North’s Jang Jae-un in Pyongyang.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also came to the Red Cross headquarters early in the morning and spoke with the separated family members.

``I think the video reunions will have to eventually lead to face-to-face meetings,’’ Chung said. Pointing out time limits placed on face-to-face reunions, however, Chung pledged to pursue the video reunions throughout the year.

During a reunion session broadcast on TV, two 70-something sisters residing in the North broke into tears and repeatedly urged Kim Mae-nyo, 98, their mother in the South, to recognize them.

Kim, who suffered a stroke last year, did not respond, although her son, also in the South, told his older sisters that Kim has yearned to see them after leaving to the South in 1946 with him and her youngest daughter.

Park Yo-hwan, 94, immediately recognized the three daughters she left behind in the North during the Jan. 4 retreat in 1951.

Choi Won-hee, 66, the youngest daughter who had come to the South with Park at that time, stretched her hands toward her sisters on the screen saying: ``We’ve been looking for you so desperately. You’ll never know how much father wept on his death bed.’’

Twenty families from each side met via videoconferencing with their separated blood relations or spouses for about one to two hours each. A total of 226 people participated in the reunion sessions.

South Korea operated 11 videoconferencing rooms for the event, five at the Red Cross headquarters in Namsan, Seoul and another six in Pusan, Suwon, Taejon, Inchon, Taegu and Kwangju. The North’s videoconferencing room was located in Pyongyang.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr