North Koreans Speak to Southern Relatives by Video

SEOUL, South Korea – There was no hugging, no kissing, no chance physically to release the longings built up after a half-century of separation by one of the world’s most impenetrable borders. But for the Koreans who at least had the chance to glimpse one another over large screen television monitors, a pilot teleconferencing project that began yesterday was the next best thing.“This in itself is a miracle,” a 58-year-old South Korean, Im Ok Nam, said as she emerged jubilant from a conference room at the Red Cross headquarters in Seoul where she had participated in a teleconference with a 72-year-old brother in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. She had not seen him since the 1950-53 Korean War.Fiber-optic cables had been laid across the Demilitarized Zone so that teleconferences could take place in real time. The participants in the project, 226 people representing 40 families, were videotaped in conference rooms set up in the two nations. The North Koreans spoke from a Pyongyang hotel, while South Koreans used 11 rooms in Seoul, Pusan, Suwon, Taejon, Inchon, Taegu, and Kwangju.The teleconferences were broadcast live over South Korean television, which used split screens to show the reunions simultaneously. The result was a televised kaleidoscope of emotions almost too powerful to watch.The North Korean women mostly wore traditional robes known as hanbuk, while many of the men wore their military uniforms, their chests adorned with war medals. Many clutched tiny photographs of other family members that they held up to the cameras.In one of the most poignant reunions, a wizened 98-year-old South Korean woman in a hospital gown was connected through the teleconference with two daughters in their 70s whom she hadn’t seen since 1946. Kim Mae Nyo, who relatives said had suffered a stroke, showed no sign of recognizing her daughters.“Mom, can you speak? Can you call my name?” cried out one of the North Koreans in frustration.Since 2000, there have been 10 face-to-face family reunions, allowing a total of 10,000 estranged Koreans to meet. But the waiting list in South Korea alone of people who wish to participate numbers 98,000, and thousands of potential participants die each year of old age.“Of course, face-to-face reunions are more important. Our idea is not to replace them, but to expand the opportunities for people to participate in reunions,” said Han Wang Sang, head of the South Korean Red Cross, which organized the reunions. “Many people are very old, and this can give them another way to see their families.”The South Koreans are hoping that the next round of in-person reunions will take place August 26 at the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang after a hiatus of more than one year. The gatherings were stopped by the North Korean regime amid worsening relations with South Korea and rising tensions over the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has taken steps in recent months to improve his ties with the international community, resuming six-nation talks on the nuclear issue and pursuing various economic and tourism ventures with South Korea. Nearly 200 North Koreans arrived in Seoul on Sunday for joint celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia, which is an important national holiday for both Koreas as it marks the end of Japan’s 35-year occupation of the peninsula. In an unusual gesture, the North’s delegation made a visit to a South Korean cemetery of many Korean War victims.Despite the many well-publicized joint events, the two Koreas remain so thoroughly estranged that there is no telephone or postal service. The idea of teleconferencing family reunions grew out of a landmark 2000 summit in Pyongyang between Kim and the then-South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung, but its implementation was stalled by tensions between the two countries.“Technically, we could have done this years ago, but there was no political agreement,” said Kim Tae Hun, an official of KT, the South Korean telephone company that installed the cables, video monitors, cameras, and microphones for the teleconferences. He said that $1.8 million had been spent on the project and that the cables laid across the Demilitarized Zone for the conferences had enough capacity to allow 2 million North and South Koreans to talk to one another on the telephone.Some people who participated in the televised reunions yesterday expressed frustration that they could not hug and kiss their loved ones and that there was no opportunity for private communication.“I would have liked to ask my brother if he had enough to eat, but I didn’t dare,” a South Korean, Im Ok Nam, said.But the benefits of the virtual reunions seemed to outweigh the shortcomings, and one participant said she was relieved to have met her sister over a video monitor rather than in person.“It would have been too much to bear. I think I would have been so choked up that I couldn’t speak,” Yi Gyeong Nim, 65, said. “It was enough to see what she looked like and know that she is alive.”

North Koreans Speak to Southern Relatives by Video

North Koreans Speak to Southern Relatives by Video

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