Mixed feelings before Korea reunions

This 90-year-old man has a better chance than most

By Caroline Gluck

Officials from the South Korean Red Cross are finalising the list of 100 candidates chosen to travel to North Korea for reunions with separated family members.

The official reunions, which will take place on 15 August, were one result of the historic summit meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas in June.

Many applicants will be disappointed

More than 90,000 South Koreans applied to take part in the reunions and for those eventually selected it will be a highly emotional moment - the first time in more than half a century that they will be able to set foot in their homeland and meet their families.

North and South Korea remain technically at war - making any contact between families on either side of the divided peninsula almost impossible.

Anxious wait

For those on a shortlist of 200 families, the past few weeks have been a time of anxious anticipation to see if they will be chosen in the final 100.

At his small home in north-eastern Seoul, 77-year-old Han Jae Il proudly showed me an article from a local newspaper which reports that he was among 200 people shortlisted for the family reunions.

Not only this, but the North Korean authorities had confirmed that six of his relatives in the North are still alive - including his wife, now 75, his son, a younger brother and a cousin.

"I never dreamt they would still be alive," he said. "In the press, I'd read about North Korea - the starvation of the people because they've been having food problems."

Before the summit, there were other ways for families to get together, through China or other countries like the US, but such options were beyond the financial means of people like Mr Han.

"Luckily I've been shortlisted and I'm so happy right now that, even if I die, I won't have any regrets," he said.

Divided by war

Mr Han's chances are good: Red Cross officials say they will give priority to those who have spouses or children alive in the North.

Though he is confident of being among the 100 lucky ones who will cross the border, he is now preoccupied with other concerns, like how many children and grandchildren his 50-year-old son would have.

The past week or so has been an emotional time for the Han family. His story - like so many others from this time - is full of drama and personal tragedy.

A new era of communication between the warring Koreas

Originally a soldier in the North Korean army, he was ordered to retreat during the Korean war.

Starving and desperate, and having discarded his military uniform, he encountered a young woman who fed and clothed him - and eventually fell in love with him. Today the two live together as husband and wife.

His partner, 78-year-old So Bok Soon, later learnt about his family in the North. It was quite a shock for the couple's two children.

"The past was a big secret, now it's out," Mrs So says. "I don't blame him or his former wife, I just blame it on events at that time.

"But my son says he's happy now he knows he has an elder brother and my daughter says she's glad to have a new uncle. "

Heartbreak

Mr Han now admits some regrets at starting a new family in the South. When I go to the North, he says, I will have to apologise to my wife there 100 times over. But I did what I thought I had to do at that time, it was the only way to live.

Mr Park of the Red Cross (seated) explains selection procedure

The phones at the offices of the South Korean Red Cross keep ringing as disappointed families phone officials to ask why they aren't on the shortlist.

Park Jung-Gyu, head of the Red Cross's bureau for inter-Korean separated families, says it has meant heartbreak for the vast majority of divided families.

"One person in his 90s who wasn't selected complained to us, saying he might not have much longer to live and why wasn't he on the shortlist of candidates," he says.

Mixed emotions

Back at the Han household, they are already discussing what presents to take to North Korea, although the visit still is not certain.

Mr Han knows he has been lucky, and he is sorry for those who cannot go. But he hopes that more reunions will take place.

And what does he expect the moment of reunion to be like?

"I think the first thing I'll be doing is crying. When I saw pictures of the last official reunion I saw people then hugging and crying. And that's how I think I'll be - crying first and then talking."