Olympics Give Hope to Split Korean Families | God's World News

Olympics Give Hope to Split Korean Families

02/16/2018
  • Koreas
    AP Photo: South Korean Kwon Sun Ku speaks about his brother in North Korea. The two were reunited briefly in 2005, but Kwon has heard nothing from him since.

As a newlywed in Gangneung, South Korea, Kang Hwa-seon was like a mother to her young brother-in-law. She fed him, took him to school, and watched him grow into a young man. That was during the 1940s. Then, the Korean War that split North and South Korea also pulled her away from Song Dong Ho, the boy she raised.

In late 2015, Kang got to see Song again after decades. She had applied for a family reunion program which has since been discontinued between the two nations. (See Houses Divided, https://teen.wng.org/node/2516.) Since then, however, the two have had no contact.

Many Korean families have lived most of their lives without contact with loved ones across the border. Like Kang, who is now 93, they long for their own reunions. For many, the current Winter Olympics have given a small hope that they may have those reunions. An atmosphere of eased tensions and cooperation between the two Koreas surfaced when the South invited the North to participate in the games. Might it last, to bring together long-separated family members?

Currently, any type of contact is restricted. Both governments prohibit their citizens from exchanging phone calls, letters, or emails. In many cases, families can’t even be sure their loved ones are still alive.

Animosities could easily flare again once the Olympics end on February 25. But some see signs that North Korea is serious about outreach this time. The optimistic ones cite a numnber of unusual steps: a joint march with South Korea during the Winter Games’ opening ceremony; the formation of a combined Korean women’s hockey team; and the dispatching of leader Kim Jong Un’s sister as part of an Olympic delegation, for example.

How much change can they expect though? South Korea wants full-fledged, regular reunions. But in the past, North Korea has used the meeting programs to win aid and concessions from the South. Experts say the North still wants to limit its citizens’ view of the affluence and freedoms of the South.

Past reunions involved hundreds of Koreans gathering at the North’s Diamond Mountain resort. Visitation was timed and all were aware of the rapidly ticking clock. The techniques of choosing participants differed: The South used a computerized lottery system. The North picked citizens loyal to the Kim family’s leadership.

No Korean has ever gotten a second chance to meet a relative.

(AP Photo: South Korean Kwon Sun Ku speaks about his brother in North Korea. The two were reunited briefly in 2005, but Kwon has heard nothing from him since.)