Renewed hopes for reunion, visit to homeland
Ko Young-beom, 81, right, sits with his wife Sim Young-sunon the sofa for a family photo shoot, along with a picture of the 2007 reunion with his siblings in North Korea. Separated from his family by the 1950-53 Korean War, Ko hopes to see his siblings once again, inspired by detente brought on by the April 27 Summit. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kim Ji-soo, Lee Suh-yoon
Ko Young-beom, 81, calls Ongjin County in North Korea’s western South Hwanghae Province his hometown. Since the April 27 Korea summit, he has been losing sleep.
“It feels unreal. Ever since the summit, I feel so jittery that I cannot sleep at night,” he said in an interview with The Korea Times at his home in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. “As I watched Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un laugh together on TV, I felt almost confident that I could visit my hometown again before I die — maybe within the next five years.”
Ko is among the some 130,000 people separated from family by the 1950-53 Korean War registered with a government-run system for separated families managed by the Ministry of Unification. As of February this year, more than 58,000 separated family members remain living. He may be one of the more fortunate ones in that he met his younger siblings Ko Choon-sil, 76, and Ko Kwang-beom, 69, once at an official family reunion event in 2007.
“My suspicions that they may be con artists disappeared as soon as I saw them,” Ko said, opening an old album with photos of that day. “My little brother looked exactly like my father. As for my sister, I did not recognize her at first because she looked old enough to be my mother. I think she suffered a lot.” When Ko and his siblings found each other in the crowd in October 2007, they immediately fell crying into each other’s arms.
“I showed them a picture of my house. They did not believe me saying it was too big so I told them, ‘look I’m in my pajamas in the picture. How can I be wearing pajamas in someone else’s house?’” Ko said.
When the Korean War broke out, Ko and his father fled Ongjin County, near the 38th parallel dividing the two Koreas. He was 14.
Ko Young-beom, sitting on the left in the second picture taken with his sister, looks through an album with photos of the 2007 reunion. Next to the album are Ko's letters that never reached his siblings. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
His mother, however, stayed behind to look after his younger siblings and his grandmother. She passed away.
After the reunion, Ko’s memories of his hometown kept coming back. Violent scenes of war just before he left his home are still vivid in his mind.
“Me and other students were listening to morning announcements in the school courtyard when four fighter jets suddenly flew over us. When they U-turned in midair and flew back towards the school, our teachers told us to quickly go inside the school building — a big mistake because the jets mistook us for soldiers taking cover and opened fire on the school,” Ko said, waving his hands to replicate the motion of the jets.
“It was horrible with dead bodies everywhere. I ran home barefoot. My mother and grandmother were standing by the front door, waiting to see which of us would come back alive. They scolded me for running back on my own without my younger sister — who arrived shortly afterwards.”
At the 2007 reunion, Ko and his siblings met three times. They parted laughing, joking about how Ko’s brother would visit him for his 70th birthday party.
“But as soon as I turned around and got on the bus, my brother disappeared. Only my sister could be seen waving next to the bus window. I scoured the crowd and spotted him scuttling back and forth inside the crowd while wiping his face with his sleeves.” Ko said, his voice suddenly falling low.
“He was trying to hide from me because he did not want me to see him cry. That scene keeps replaying in my head.” Ever since this reunion 11 years ago, Ko fell into depression and has been taking medication to cope with it.
The inter-Korean family reunions took place in earnest following the 2000 inter-Korean summit. The reunions have ebbed and flowed with the political times, with the last one being held in 2015.
“I keep wondering whether they are still alive. It keeps nagging me because they were in such poor health when I last saw them,” he said. “Up until the reunion, I had not really given much thought to my siblings in the North. I thought they were probably dead and was busy living my life, making ends meet and raising my sons.
Ko peers into a framed photo of his 2007 reunion with his siblings in North Korea. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
But that all changed after the summit.”
His wife, Sim Young-sun, 74, says it has been difficult watching her husband’s suffering since the reunion.
“I would not have let my husband go to that reunion 11 years ago if I knew how it would tear him apart. He cried through most of his 70th birthday party, which took place shortly after the reunion,” she said. “If the reunions are just a one-off event, it is better to not go at all.”
But with the third inter-Korean summit, Ko harbors a different kind of jitters — one of hope. Ko says the possibility of unification from the recent summit has eclipsed his former political views against the current South Korean President.
“I used to dislike President Moon Jae-in but that changed after last week’s summit,” Ko quietly admitted. “All I want is for unification to happen before I die so I can drive a truck filled with food into my hometown.”
Jeong Ip-bun
Jeong Ip-bun, 89, who lives in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, is also from South Hwanghae Province, Yeonbaek County.
While watching the April 27 summit, Jeong didn’t hesitate to call Kim Jong-un names. Yet at the same time, she uttered that now she may reunite with her siblings.
Jeong Ip-bun poses in this file photo. /Courtesy of Jeong Ip-bun
Newly married, she fled to the South with her husband, who lived in a nearby village, to escape the onslaught of the North Korean army’ s activities forced upon the residents in the North.
“I was 19 then, and now I am 89. My husband and I have filed with the Korean Red Cross to meet our families but we never got the chance,” she told The Korea Times over the phone.
On that day of the interview, the South Korean government said it would pursue opening three standing reunion centers for the separated Korean families. How did she feel?
“I come from siblings of seven. My older brother has passed away, and my younger brother too, and if they are still living, the five younger siblings should be there. But I hope (realistically) at this age to at least visit my parents’ graveyard,” she said, as she wept softly over the phone.
Through the small screen, she has witnessed three inter-Korean summits: the 2000 summit between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the 2007 summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, and the third one between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.
“I cried every time I watched those summits,” Jeong said.
At her age, and battling frequent illnesses, she harbors a small, realistic wish.
“There were mountains and rivers there in my hometown. It may be nothing special but it is where I spent my childhood, and youth. I would like to go back perhaps come winter or next spring,” she said.