By Kim Sue-young, Joint Press Corps.
Staff Reporter
SOKCHO, Gangwon Province - Despite her weak legs, 82-year-old Chang Cheong-gyo hurried to a registration desk in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, Monday, to join the second segment of reunions of separated families that begins today.
She had never heard from her long-lost husband, Roh Jun-hyun, 81, since he was conscripted in 1950 when the Korean War (1950-53) broke out.
She thought her husband was dead. She nurtured a daughter and a son through farming work in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Her daughter, Roh Seon-ja, was just five when she was separated from her father but now she is 61 year old.
Chang suffers from poor hearing and has difficulty communicating. But as soon as she heard that her husband was looking for her, she asked her daughter two things: "Can I bring him back here? If not, can I live with him in the North?"
The daughter expressed worries over her mom insistence that she would stay (in the North) and live with her husband.
For the reunions at the Mt. Geumgang resort in North Korea, the two women, along with Roh's two younger brothers and son-in-law, who have never seen him, are scheduled to join.
Because only five South Korean family members are allowed to take part in the gathering, Roh's only son, Young-sik, could not join.
For the father she barely knows, the daughter said she prepared clothes and several kilograms of sugar, which is considered rare in the North, as presents.
The humanitarian reunion project resumed last Saturday after a 23-month suspension.
North Korea unilaterally cut off the communication channels between the South and North Korean Red Cross societies in 2007 and refused to talk about ways to resume reunions.
The resumption occurred in the wake of Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun's visit to North Korea and her rare meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in mid-August.
The first segment ended Monday after 97 South Koreans had a farewell session with their loved ones remaining in the North. The second round begins today with 99 North Koreans and their relatives from the South. The session ends Thursday.