November 20, 2000
The Korea Herald
By Soh Ji-young
" I was devastated when my husband's name was not included in the list for the first family reunion. I cannot express my joy now that I have a chance to see him," said Yu Sun-ee, 70, who will be able to meet her husband for the first time in over 50 years.
Yu was overcome with emotion when she found out Saturday that her husband, Kim Jung-hon, 68, was included in the list for the second family reunion, set to be held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
She clasped the hand of her son Yong-woo, 49, and broke into tears, as if to wash away the decades of suffering and sorrow.
Even thought Yu had been married to her husband for only six months before being separated, she had been waiting for him all these years, never remarrying and raising their son as a single mother.
" After I was excluded from the August family reunions, I went to the Korean Red Cross to see his picture that was sent from the North. It made my heart ache when I saw that his young and handsome face had grown old and full of wrinkles," she said, showing a copy of the picture she has carried for the past three months.
"My husband had appeared in a dream, saying someone was blocking him from coming, and that he was sorry he couldn't meet me," she said.
Yu parted with her husband in 1950, right after the Korean War had broken out. The couple had been married for six months and lived in Chongju, North Chungchong province, but had a heart-breaking separation when Kim was drafted into the Korean army.
He left with the words, " I'm being drafted instead of my brother," and Yu has not met her husband since then. She was pregnant with their son at the time.
Yu, who can still vividly recall her husband's young image, said, "I don't know what to say when I finally meet him."
"I wish I had a chance to make him dinner and let him stay a night with his family," she said, expressing regret that only a few meetings are permitted.
Her son, Yong-woo, 49, who is meeting his father for the very first time, said," Mother was glued to the TV set whenever reunion related news came on, for fear that she would not be able to meet him.