Separated families from the two Koreas share memories of the past during their group reunion
- 6 years ago
Staying with the reunions.
Emotions were running high,... but it was a little calmer on Tuesday compared to the first day.
What helped these families even more... was a private setting that was not provided in previous gatherings.
Our Cha Sang-mi zooms in on some of the personal stories of the reunited families.
The separated families got to have some real "family time" in private on Tuesday for about three hours.
They were set up in private rooms, where they exchanged gifts they brought for each other and had lunch together.
No media were allowed into the rooms,... making things a more peaceful and intimate.
And participants seemed to love it.
"It felt a lot more comfortable because we could talk more candidly."
But some still expressed regrets.
"The time passed so quickly. It was two hours or so, but it felt like half an hour."
Kim said the time felt especially short, as he and his sister sat together crying, recalling their mother who had passed away, suffering from the guilt of leaving her two baby daughters in the North.
As for the gifts the families gave each other, from the South they brought a lot of daily necessities, ranging from vitamins to winter parkas.
But it wasn't just the South Koreans who showed such concern.
The North Koreans also brought a lot of nutritional items like ginseng.
And of course, for this festive event, there was alcohol.
Some brought rare liquors from Pyongyang and Mount Paekdu.
And some brought colorful tablecloths, so they could remember the reunion at every meal.
"Do you think you'll use this tablecloth?"
"Of course I will. It's a gift. I'll definitely use it.
And during their group reunion in the evening, it seemed like they didn't want to waste a single second they had together.
During today's meetings, they seemed a lot more at ease and more smiles were seen; jokes and stories were told.
Some sweet moments were spotted by the press pool.
"Look at her, isn't she pretty? This is my younger sister."
To Kim, she's still like a baby sister even though she's over 80 years old now.
"We haven't talked for the last 73 years. The more we talk, the more we remember of the past."
They talked for a while today, but they said they don't mind repeating the same stories again and again.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.
Emotions were running high,... but it was a little calmer on Tuesday compared to the first day.
What helped these families even more... was a private setting that was not provided in previous gatherings.
Our Cha Sang-mi zooms in on some of the personal stories of the reunited families.
The separated families got to have some real "family time" in private on Tuesday for about three hours.
They were set up in private rooms, where they exchanged gifts they brought for each other and had lunch together.
No media were allowed into the rooms,... making things a more peaceful and intimate.
And participants seemed to love it.
"It felt a lot more comfortable because we could talk more candidly."
But some still expressed regrets.
"The time passed so quickly. It was two hours or so, but it felt like half an hour."
Kim said the time felt especially short, as he and his sister sat together crying, recalling their mother who had passed away, suffering from the guilt of leaving her two baby daughters in the North.
As for the gifts the families gave each other, from the South they brought a lot of daily necessities, ranging from vitamins to winter parkas.
But it wasn't just the South Koreans who showed such concern.
The North Koreans also brought a lot of nutritional items like ginseng.
And of course, for this festive event, there was alcohol.
Some brought rare liquors from Pyongyang and Mount Paekdu.
And some brought colorful tablecloths, so they could remember the reunion at every meal.
"Do you think you'll use this tablecloth?"
"Of course I will. It's a gift. I'll definitely use it.
And during their group reunion in the evening, it seemed like they didn't want to waste a single second they had together.
During today's meetings, they seemed a lot more at ease and more smiles were seen; jokes and stories were told.
Some sweet moments were spotted by the press pool.
"Look at her, isn't she pretty? This is my younger sister."
To Kim, she's still like a baby sister even though she's over 80 years old now.
"We haven't talked for the last 73 years. The more we talk, the more we remember of the past."
They talked for a while today, but they said they don't mind repeating the same stories again and again.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.