Day 1 of second round of family reunions ends with family banquet
- 6 years ago
Staying with the reunion event.
The first day ended with a family banquet at the Mount Kumgang resort.
Our Park Ji-won has more on that and a wrap up of what else happened on Friday.
"Love and Peace "
The first meal in over six decades with long-lost family members started by cheering "love and peace" together.
Addressing the family banquet,.. the President of the South Korean Red Cross Park Kyung-seo said the reunion of war-separated families is one of the most imminent, humanitarian tasks,... stressing the Red Cross of the two Koreas will continue to work together on the matter.
The Vice Chairman of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, Pak Yong-il added that the participants themselves are the direct victims of misfortune and suffering due to the division of the Korean peninsula, stressing the need to keep improving inter-Korean relations.
The two-hour banquet followed the first group meeting session,... where 88-year old North Korean Cho Duk-yong finally got to meet his 67 year old son, Cho Jung-ki,.. whom he'd never seen before.
The elder Cho left his family when his wife was three-months pregnant.
"Mother waited 68 years for you. I'm glad you're well and healthy. Never in my dreams did I think you'd be alive."
Fifty-nine-year old South Korean Son Kyung-cheol and his sisters met with their aunt in the North, 75-year old Moon Seong-ok .
Although she's an aunt they've never seen before, they burst into tears the moment they saw her as she looks just like their late mother.
"You have a mole here and so did our mom. You look so much like my mother it's as if you were twins. When we walked in we thought mom had come back alive."
Eighty-four-year-old Ri Keun-sook from North Korea met her younger half brothers and sister from the South, with whom she grew up with but ended up separated from when she left for a factory in Wonsan, North Korea to earn money when she was 14 years old.
That was the last time they saw her.
Her South Korean half-brother said their mother held on to the piece of clothing Ri had made, holding it close until she passed away.
"Do you remember this? You made this when you were 14 years old. It's come back to you after 70 years."
The family members are determined to make the most out of the limited time they have to spend with each other after several decades torn apart.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
The first day ended with a family banquet at the Mount Kumgang resort.
Our Park Ji-won has more on that and a wrap up of what else happened on Friday.
"Love and Peace "
The first meal in over six decades with long-lost family members started by cheering "love and peace" together.
Addressing the family banquet,.. the President of the South Korean Red Cross Park Kyung-seo said the reunion of war-separated families is one of the most imminent, humanitarian tasks,... stressing the Red Cross of the two Koreas will continue to work together on the matter.
The Vice Chairman of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, Pak Yong-il added that the participants themselves are the direct victims of misfortune and suffering due to the division of the Korean peninsula, stressing the need to keep improving inter-Korean relations.
The two-hour banquet followed the first group meeting session,... where 88-year old North Korean Cho Duk-yong finally got to meet his 67 year old son, Cho Jung-ki,.. whom he'd never seen before.
The elder Cho left his family when his wife was three-months pregnant.
"Mother waited 68 years for you. I'm glad you're well and healthy. Never in my dreams did I think you'd be alive."
Fifty-nine-year old South Korean Son Kyung-cheol and his sisters met with their aunt in the North, 75-year old Moon Seong-ok .
Although she's an aunt they've never seen before, they burst into tears the moment they saw her as she looks just like their late mother.
"You have a mole here and so did our mom. You look so much like my mother it's as if you were twins. When we walked in we thought mom had come back alive."
Eighty-four-year-old Ri Keun-sook from North Korea met her younger half brothers and sister from the South, with whom she grew up with but ended up separated from when she left for a factory in Wonsan, North Korea to earn money when she was 14 years old.
That was the last time they saw her.
Her South Korean half-brother said their mother held on to the piece of clothing Ri had made, holding it close until she passed away.
"Do you remember this? You made this when you were 14 years old. It's come back to you after 70 years."
The family members are determined to make the most out of the limited time they have to spend with each other after several decades torn apart.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.