Tears melt political divide of 50 years

A tearful reunion of 200 family members yesterday highlighted the emotional toll of the two Koreas' political division.

A North Korean plane landed in Seoul carrying 100 North Koreans to see their relatives across the great divide for the first time in half a century. A further 100 South Koreans then boarded the plane to go to Pyongyang.

The contingent from the North seemed stunned that the meeting was actually taking place. They walked into the convention hall, where family members they had not seen for 50 years sat waiting at numbered tables. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters wailed and screamed, some with joy, some because their loved ones could not recognise them. One woman fainted and was carried away on a stretcher. A few took traditional herbal Korean medicine to guard against sudden heart failure.

Lim Jae-Hyok, 66, stumbled upon his 91-year-old father in a wheelchair. They had last seen each other when Mr Lim was drafted into the North Korean army.

With tears flowing as his ailing father failed to recognise him, Mr Lim screamed in anguish.

''Daddy, your grandsons in North Korea want to see you, too. My heart is breaking. This might be my last bow,'' he said, as he hurled himself on to the floor and lay sobbing.

''Father, father,'' 52-year-old Cho Kyong-jae cried, kneeling in front of 78-year-old Cho Yong-gwan from North Korea.

''Oh, my son. I'm sorry. You've grown up nicely,'' said the elder Cho, a state-decorated scientist in the North who was drafted into the communist army. His wife died 34 years ago, his son told him.

In contrast to the dramatic scenes at the convention centre in Seoul, the reunion at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang was more muted. Tears were shed, but the atmosphere was somewhat constrained. After the initial greeting, a few family members kept sobbing while some calmly swapped photographs.

''I never dreamed I would come back here in my life,'' said Han Jae-il as he stepped off the plane in Pyongyang, a stroll away from where he was born 82 years ago.

The South Korean delegation chief, Chang Chung-shik, said on arrival: ''I hope these reunions will not stop as a one-time event and will continue so the day will come when dispersed family members on the two sides can go and come freely.''

When the 100 North Koreans arrived in Seoul, they moved swiftly, neither pausing nor looking around at the long line of spectators before jauntily boarding a fleet of buses to the convention centre. The 94 men wore dark suits, blue shirts and sported two official badges one on the left jacket lapel featuring the founder of the Stalinist state, Kim Il-sung, and the North Korean flag on the right. The six women wore hanbok, traditional flowing dresses.

When Lim Jae-hyok, 66, met his 91-year-old father in a wheelchair he burst out in anguish, thumping his chest, throwing up his arms and bowing. ''My father, I am seeing your face for the first time in 50 years. Our dear general Kim Jong-il sent me here to let me see you before you die,'' he said.

Mr Kim has reportedly agreed to two more family reunion sessions later this year.

The reunions were the first since 1985, when 50 separated family members from each side crossed the border.