TEARS: Families From North and South Korea Reunite For The First Time In Decades

Things like this remind me how grateful and lucky I am to live in a place where I don’t have the government telling me where to go or who I can talk to.

According to this, a three-day reunion event was held this week between North Korea and South Korea, where family members who’ve been separated between the two countries are allowed to see each other. Some of these people haven’t seen or heard from their loved ones in over sixty years, since civil war separated Korea. And since North Korea is a dictatorial communist hellhole, getting permission for their citizens to visit their family is a dangerous and difficult process. What’s even sadder is that the reunification events don’t take place that often and the chances of being chosen to go are slim. South Koreans are selected by a lottery system to get the chance to visit their family members in North Korea, who selects their participants by who is most loyal to the government.

Watch (and have tissues handy) –

From the article –

The reunions are the first since February 2014, and serve as a reminder that the Korean Peninsula is still in a state of war following the 1950-53 fighting that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Reunions between the separated families have been held sporadically since 1988.

For many, this will be their one and only chance to see their families. After decades spent apart, the elderly participants invited to the reunion have a precious three days to spend together before the South Koreans return home.

None of the participants invited into the reclusive resort in North Korea have ever had a second reunion with their families.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to finally see your spouse or child or parent after so many years, but you only get a few days with them before the government says you have to go back with the guarantee that you’ll never see them again. It’s almost unreal that such a place exists in our modern world.