Tearful scenes as Korean families separated by war say goodbye
- 6 years ago
Their final hour for those families at Mount Kumgang was spent having lunch together.
Now it's back to reality.
Our Cha Sang-mi has some of the touching and tearful scenes from those last moments.
“I cried every time I thought of saying goodbye to you.”
“If we live long and stay healthy, the time will come for us to meet again.”
“I wish. I wish we could see each other everyday.”
.
Scenes of long-separated families finally reunited... but having to part ways again.
The older sister promises they'll meet again in the future, knowing they probably won't.
Another older sister comforts a younger one.
“We need to live long so we can see reunification.”
“We've already lived too long.”
“These days they say you're young when you're 60. Ninety is the new 60."
The participants from South Korea arrived half an hour earlier at the meeting hall to wait for their relatives.
They say the three days they spent together -- despite being under strict control -- were amazing.
The families also had a session for exchanging letters, where some grandchildren, nephews and nieces, wrote heartfelt letters for their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and vice versa.
The grandchildren had never seen their North Korean grandparents before, but they invited them to their homes in Seoul.
The venue for Sunday's farewell became a sea of tears, but it seemed they were happy deep down.
"Don't cry. Do you remember my face?
"Yes, not the upper part, but down here you look exactly the same."
Shim said the time had flown and she wanted to stop the clocks so they wouldn't have to say goodbye.
Just after lunch, though, the 81 South Korean families, totaling 324 people, left Mt. Kumgang to go home.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.
Now it's back to reality.
Our Cha Sang-mi has some of the touching and tearful scenes from those last moments.
“I cried every time I thought of saying goodbye to you.”
“If we live long and stay healthy, the time will come for us to meet again.”
“I wish. I wish we could see each other everyday.”
.
Scenes of long-separated families finally reunited... but having to part ways again.
The older sister promises they'll meet again in the future, knowing they probably won't.
Another older sister comforts a younger one.
“We need to live long so we can see reunification.”
“We've already lived too long.”
“These days they say you're young when you're 60. Ninety is the new 60."
The participants from South Korea arrived half an hour earlier at the meeting hall to wait for their relatives.
They say the three days they spent together -- despite being under strict control -- were amazing.
The families also had a session for exchanging letters, where some grandchildren, nephews and nieces, wrote heartfelt letters for their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and vice versa.
The grandchildren had never seen their North Korean grandparents before, but they invited them to their homes in Seoul.
The venue for Sunday's farewell became a sea of tears, but it seemed they were happy deep down.
"Don't cry. Do you remember my face?
"Yes, not the upper part, but down here you look exactly the same."
Shim said the time had flown and she wanted to stop the clocks so they wouldn't have to say goodbye.
Just after lunch, though, the 81 South Korean families, totaling 324 people, left Mt. Kumgang to go home.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.