Rare Korean reunions go ahead despite gunfire exchange

Sunday, October 31, 2010
By Jack Kim
SEOUL - One hundred ageing South Koreans drove across a tensely guarded armed border into North Korea on Saturday to be reunited with relatives they had not seen since the 1950-53 Korean War despite tensions between the two sides.
The emotionally charged meetings came just after the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire across their heavily armed Demilitarised Zone, which however did not lead to an escalated confrontation.
"I am finally meeting you," 96-year-old South Korean Kim Hae-jung told her daughter, Woo Jeong-hae, who lives in the North. "I've never forgotten you during my entire life and I finally see you tonight. I only saw you in my dreams."
The reunions, which also involve 100 North Koreans seeking family members living the South later, will take place over seven days and signalled a thaw in relations between the rivals after the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March.
Armed guards exchanged gunfire across the demilitarised zone, one of the world's most heavily armed frontiers, on Friday, two weeks before the leaders of the world's 20 top economies meet for a summit in the South Korean capital, about 100 km to the south.
It was not clear what was behind the shooting, which involved a total of just five shots, but the North has carried out similar provocations to coincide with the South hosting high-profile international events.
The reunions offer what may be the last chance for Koreans in their twilight of life to see long-lost parents, siblings and children for one last time.
Most Koreans who do get the chance to take part in the reunions choose not to question the politics behind the event despite the fact that North Korea has picked the time and frequency of past meetings depending on the state of its dealings with the government in the South.
The reunions, which are taking place for the first time in more than a year, began in 2000 as a symbol of warming ties after the meeting of the rivals' leaders that year that led to politically conciliatory moves.
The sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March that killed 46 sailors remains a major stumbling block to better ties as Seoul says it will not return to talks with the North until Pyongyang acknowledges its role in the attack.
North Korea denies any involvement.
Over past decades, more than 20,000 South Koreans have been briefly reunited with their relatives, but time is running out for many of the ageing 80,000 still waiting their chance to meet their long-lost family members.
For some, the meetings came too late, only in time to meet surviving family members to hear that those they had only seen in their dreams for 60 years were no longer alive.
"My mother passed away last year," said 62-year-old South Korea Lee Hak-soo. "My mother passed away before meeting me."