Report on Chongryun's First Official Visit to S. Korea September 22 - 27
Voices of Delegation Members, South Korean People
Yu Gon (Korea News Service in Japan)
Special to PK
“South Korea is only two hours away from Japan. But it took over half a century for me to come to my native place,” said an old Korean living in Japan, who visited south Korea for the first time as a member of the first Chongryun delegation.
More than three months after the historic inter-Korean Pyongyang summit and the North-South Joint Declaration in June, the first home-visiting trip to the south by Korean residents in Japan, who were members of a pro-north Korean group, was realized at last, in the atmosphere of a rapidly advancing inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation and in a new situation unfolded for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
The first home-visiting delegation of Chongryun (the General Association of the Korean Residents in Japan) consisted of 63 members: – 50 home-visitors (45 men, 5 women, averaging 79 in age), 6 officials and 7 reporters. They visited south Korea from September 22 to 27.
With “Memories of Deceased Compatriots” and “Nostalgia For Hometowns”
September 21
Members of the delegation gathered at the headquarters of Chongryun in Tokyo to attend a general send-off party. “The Korean residents in Japan, who were forced to be taken to Japan during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea, have suffered from despise and maltreatment as a national minority,” So Man Sul, First Vice-Chairman of Chongryun, said. “But they have had love and longing for their separated parents, families and relatives and harbored nostalgia for their native places. At last, we can proudly set foot on the soil of our homeland, taking pride in our life dedicated to our country and nation,” he said.
“Most of our first-generation Korean compatriots in Japan passed away before seeing the day of national reunification and visiting their birthplaces. General Secretary Kim Jong Il granted our long-cherished wishes,” Pak Jae Ro, head of the delegation, said in tears.
“I have two feelings in my mind – memories of Korean compatriots who passed away and nostalgia for my hometown. These two different feelings aroused mixed feelings in my mind,” a certain old man said in a bus on the way to a hotel near the Narita International Airport.
September 22
7 a.m. – All the members gathered in the hotel’s lobby. They said that they “were too excited to sleep last night.” Surrounded by Japanese mass media’s cameras and reporters, they were given a cordial send-off by Chongryun officials, their families and relatives. Korean school students also gave them a hearty send-off with a song, “Our Wish Is Reunification.”
9 a.m. – They boarded the Korean Airline’s KE 706 bound for Seoul to depart from Narita at 9:30 a.m.
9:42 a.m. – The airplane took off with the passengers carrying thousands of emotions with them.
Kimpo Airport: Instant Meeting Spot
11:37 a.m. – The passenger plane arrived at the Kimpo International Airport in Seoul. Every member of the delegation said unanimously, “It took only two hours to come here from Japan. But It took me more than half a century to set my foot on the land of my native place.”
A six-day-5-night stay in south Korea started with a speech by the party’s head. “My heart is filled with deep emotions, as I visited my dear old home for the first time in 57 years,” the delegation’s head Pak Jae Ro, said to tens of reporters and TV cameras at the airport, waiting for the arrival of the party.
More than one hundred families and relatives of the delegation members, who were impatiently waiting to meet the visitors, rushed to the airport. “My dear father!” “Oh my brother!” separated families and relatives hugged each other and shed tears, calling each other’s names. Visitors squeezed the hands of their long-lost families and relatives, stroking their heads and cheeks and patting their shoulders. The airport’s arrival lobby turned into a special meeting room.
Seoulites, watching the scene, warmly welcomed these emotional reunions with big applause. Excited members proudly answered interviewers from south Korean media. “I came to the south for the reunification of our fatherland,” one of them said.
The delegation released a written statement. “We Chongryun members were not allowed to visit our old homeland, where we were born and grew up, due to political barriers and artificial obstacles caused by the division of the country and the Korean nation, even after the liberation of Korea in 1945.” “It is with immeasurable joy and emotion that we are visiting our home again, amid a rising enthusiasm for reunification among Koreans in the north, south and overseas.”
According to a Japanese news agency accompanying the home-visiting party, its man-in-the-street interviews with south Korean people said that 60 percent of the interviewees answered they had a good impression of the Chongryun delegation’s visit to the south. Twenty percent of them were noncommittal, while another 20 percent were antipathetic toward the delegation.
A 30 year-old woman employee gave her impression on Chongryun as follows; “Formerly, I did not have a good feeling about Chongryun. My ill feelings toward Chongryun had continued until I graduated from high school, but my thought was changed after I entered university. Now, I have a feeling of friendship toward Chongryun, particularly after the announcement of the north-south joint declaration.” A 35 year-old male engineer said that he was really moved by the Chongryun delegation’s first-ever visit, and continued, “We south Korean people cannot blame Korean residents in Japan for their own decision as to which side they support, the north or the south. We have no right to say to them, ﾔDo not visit south Korea.’”
Each member of the Chongryun delegation held a personal meeting with his or her families and relatives.
6 p.m. – A welcome reception was hosted by the ROK Red Cross Society at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel.
“I hope that the present home-visiting work will be an epoch-making opportunity to open a way for the solution of the separated family issue of overseas Korean compatriots,” Chang Chung Shik, President of the ROK Red Cross Society, said in his welcome speech. The head of the Chongryun delegation also said in his return speech, “The recent situation in and around the Korean Peninsula clearly shows that the implementation of the North-South Joint Declaration is the only way to achieve national reconciliation, unity and reunification.”
At the reception, the chief of public information section of the ROK Red Cross, who sat next me, told me about the recent political situation in south Korea after the inter-Korean summit. He blamed former President Kim Yong Sam for his stance on the inter-Korean summit and the joint declaration saying, “People’s complaints about former President Kim Yong Sam are very strong.” “I think he is trying to betray our country.”
Three-Day-and-Two-Night Visit to Hometowns, Family Tombs
September 23 - 25
Chongryun’s first home-visiting delegation members returned to their birthplaces, train or car to see their families and relatives and to visit their family graves.
Taegu
Mrs. Cha, 74, met again her younger brother, 75, living in Taegu, after the 55 years of separation. She wept when she found that her younger brother was getting older and older and heard that he had heart trouble. Cha came to Japan with her husband soon after the liberation of Korea in 1945. “I thought that I could go back home within 4 or 5 years, but I had been waiting for more than half a century to set foot on my dear homeland. I hope that the divided Korean Peninsula will be reunified at once and we will come and go freely.”
Aechon County
Mr. Pak, 87, who was born in Aechon County in North Kyongsang, shared his joy with his younger brother in his house. His more than one hundred family members and relatives came from Taegu and Seoul to see him, and they gave a welcome party for Pak who visited his birthplace after an interval of more than 50 years.
Cheju Island
“People all want national reunification, I am sure,” a taxi driver said, answering a question about the recent trend in inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. Another south Korean also said, “After the announcement of the North-South Joint Declaration, confrontation between north and south Korea is losing its meaning.” “The north and the south should be united as one nation. I can hardly imagine that Chongryun’s official visit has been realized so speedily. I think its visit should be continued in the future.”
I finished my daily work and checked in at the Cheju Pacific Hotel. I had dinner at a restaurant in the hotel. Outside the restaurant, I saw merrily laughing young men. More than twenty young men were on a drinking spree. They said to me “Welcome!” and offered “Jinro,” south Korea’s famous distilled liquor. They did not know about Chongryun until they saw the Chongryun delegation on TV. I thought that it made no difference to them whether one belonged Chongryun or Mindan (pro-south Korean organization in Japan.)
What impressed me was that welcoming banners for inter-Korean ministerial talks were displayed and a joint project of mutual visits to Mt. Paekdu and Mt. Halla were advertised in various places on Cheju Island.
September 26
The Chongryun delegation visited various sightseeing spots in Seoul.
6:30 p.m. – A send-off party was hosted by Unification Minister Pak Jae Gyu at the Hyatt Hotel. Minister Pak shook hands with every delegation member. In his speech, he expressed his will to make every effort to realize a regular visit. “The Chongryun compatriots’ home-visiting delegation is a reflection of our will to implement the North-South Joint Declaration agreed upon at the historic inter-Korean summit. It also shows that the north and the south has taken step toward a new era of reconciliation and cooperation, putting an end to the age of confrontation and antagonism.”
Some members spoke about their impression of their trip to south Korea.
Mr. Chon, 77, said, “There is one who does not long for one’s native place. I have never forgotten my separated family and my hometown.” “I had been caught between nostalgia for my old place and my political belief for a long time, but I could not give up my belief. I will devote the rest my life to achieving the task of reunification of our fatherland.”
“A two-night-and-three-day trip was too short for me,” Ryang Sok Ha, 72, said. Ryang met his 104 years old mother on Cheju Island, his native place, for the first time in 57 years.” “I could not repress my tears. Though we go back to Japan, we will come back here. The north and the south should be reconciled and get rid of long-standing ill feelings against each other. We can surely make it.”
September 27
8:52 a.m. – The delegation left the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel.
10:13 a.m. – They took procedures for embarkation. Families, relatives and officials concerned saw them off at the Kimpo Airport.
“I think that our visit made a great contribution to achieving national reconciliation and unity and to the implementation of the North-South Joint Declaration. Thanks for our compatriots and Red Cross officials,” Chief delegate Pak Jae Ro said before leaving south Korea.
11:15 a.m. – An airplane bound for Japan departed from the Kimpo airport. Aboard the place, some looked out of the windows, some fixed their eyes on their wristwatches, and others closed their eyes.
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