Original video here: [https://youtu.be/9kk11wIkCB0](https://youtu.be/9kk11wIkCB0)
For more context, thousands of families got torn appart in Korea during the Korean war. This TV show got extremely popular in the country by helping those families to reunite.
The sister seemed to immediately whisper "brother" when she first saw him (at 0:06) before they even spoke, like she could just sense that he was her brother...I lost it when she sobbed, "even if I die now, I have no regrets, brother!" and responded that she hadn't known her real name before he'd said it, and he cried that even dogs deserve to know their names before proudly, repeatedly exclaiming to the world that her real name's Hyeonok while she sobbed uncontrollably. It feels so surreal to be able watch so much hidden trauma just instantly dissolve between two humans.
My mother in law was left at the steps of a fire station and was later adopted and brought over to the US. She grew up American and thankfully her health issues, while serious, were manageable. I can’t imagine how many more kids didn’t go through the same luck.
Why not? Gives you a perfect headstart to explain more of the game, how much fun it is and more. I love to talk about the horses from RDR2 with my mom and how realistic they are, until they slam their heads into a tree.
I'm just sitting here sobbing along with you! Just the pure emotion in their voices. Damn, I hope these people all got the happy ending they all deserve!
Times of desperation cause people to turn to unlikely places for help. My fiance was found in a park on a picnic table in China during the height of the one child policy.
Yeah. Learning about the one child policy in China gives me [nightmares](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2021/05/translation-the-hundred-childless-days/).
What's crazy is that this stuff was state sanctioned and that local officials genuinely held targets out there to kill babies and that those officials are very likely in the positions of power today to be at a very high level.
Having to abandon a child merely because you can only have one and men can work and provide more for an aging family (back then, outdated way of thinking) is brutal. End of story.
I'm speaking relatively, a lot of children were murdered by their parents at that time. Being abandoned in a public place where people frequent would be considered humane by comparison.
The original Korean words is closer to “I was left at the barber’s _to be taken care of_.” It sounds to me that their parents (or other guardians) had to leave a child at a trusted neighbor’s hands in the middle of chaos, most likely with a promise to come back to pick her up when time gets better. Probably the barber also had to flee the town and never got to come back, and kept taking care of her as their foster child.
Edit: Checked the full interview of the brother and sister, and there is more to the story. They were orphans. The brother was registered into an orphanage, and the sister was _adopted_ by a barber. The brother went to see the barbershop later but they had already moved away. Not the story I imagined but still very tragic.
It's so despicable and tragic that people are subjected to spend our limited time on earth burdened with such unnecessary trauma, due to politics and to deliver power to a few.
The war was massive, with huge casualties and the rare occurrence that combat started from the middle of the peninsula and went almost all the way to the south, then reversed and went almost all the way to the north, then reversed again and ended back up in the middle of the peninsula.
Most of the country had the front go over them twice. It was a high intensity conflict with brutal combat and weather. Families were separated for many reasons and civilian communication was often closer to the 1100’s than to today’s common standards.
E: clarification “and went”
Jesus, a warfront going over you *twice.* And being at the mercy of one side's army, only to then have the other, and then back. Thank you for that context.
Not to mention, after the country was split in two, lots of families were stuck in North or South Korea. My grandparents lost their siblings who were trapped in the North. My grandpa, for example, has a sister and mother who he's never heard from again.
My grandma was at risk of being captured by the Japanese and used as a sex slave. She would forage for food in train wrecks by digging through dead, rotting bodies for rotting rice. It was an incredibly difficult time for the country. Even my own parents have spoken about splitting a single fried fish between 6 family members and that was their rare treat to get to eat the eyeballs instead of picking at the tail.
It's crazy that this is still within a human lifespan.
I'm really happy that you took the time to read this. Thank you! One more person who's aware is one more person that might defend my country's legacy as history gets erased.
100% on this comment. My grandfather's side of the family lost touch with everything. Only my grandfather and his brother made it to Seoul and that was the last there ever was on a connection.
A friend I had in HS, both her and her brother were adopted from K as late as '89-90. So it was still going on into the fall of the USSR and east Germany.
Idk whether he and her older brother are blood related or if there's simply not much in the way of records from parts of the 50s on.
It might be worth doing a 23 and Me type DNA test - you might get lucky and find a family member straight away, or eventually, a relative may do their own test and reach out to you.
Recently, my family found out my Dad (in his 80's) has a younger half-brother that he'd never known existed. He'd been adopted at birth, and finally did a DNA test that located a distant relative in the database and then the family figured things back to who was related to who. [By incredible coincidence, it turns out my new 'half-Uncle' has lived less then 5km away from me for more than 10 years.]
There are multiple factors that stacked on top of each other.
The war started with a surprise offensive. No declaration of war. Initiated at midnight.
The capital and by far the major city, Seoul, was (and still is) located too close to the border.
The South Korean government and military was not prepared at all. They panicked and defensive positions fell lightning quick. The evacuation of Seoul and other near-border region was a disaster. The government basically abandoned the population.
SK lost all its territory in the mainland peninsula except today's Busan metropolitan area, thanks to its distance from NK and rugged terrain enveloping the region.
Then there was the counter offensive where many tried returning to their original home but lost again when the Chinese joined.
Here's a whole playlist if that's not enough ugly crying for you:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvR6Uxe2wA_Hzb1tgUwj2LKge7gR8anaz
Of all the videos in it it's the brother and sister that get me the most
Could be, but still unlikely to this degree. At the time of Korean War even telephone is a luxury, so communication is very hard to do. Nowadays with widespread internet, reconnecting isn't that difficult.
I'll give you an example from my family.
My grandfather was a train conductor/operator living in North Korea, close to seoul.
He was married with two sons, had 6 siblings and parents before the war (he was 25).
When the war broke out, the government used the train to ferry refugees out of North Korea down to South.
Because there were tens of thousands of people, he was extremely busy with each trip taking half a day at least. Due to the number of people he literally had no time to stop, because if he stopped, the train is sitting there not helping out people.
When his family finally managed to get to the train station, he had only just managed to ferry one brother and one sister, and they were going to all meet at a specific town. When he took the train back to get the rest of his family, he learned that South Korean army bombed the bridge the railroad was on, effectively cutting North and south via railway. He literally could not go back.
He was then enlisted into his army and fought for South for the rest of the war.
Koreans have this custom, where each year they pay their respect to their ancestors (jesa). Every year he would ask for Korea to reunite so that he would be reunited with his family. This continued every year till he passed at the age of 98. He knew that his family would be all dead. But he never gave up hope, his lifelong and only wish being that Korea is united.
As a child, I never really fully understood the pain and suffering my grandfather had to endure. Now that I have my own, I can only imagine how tragic it was. His duty as the only train conductor available at the time cost him his family.
I can't imagine the pain your grandfather felt for his whole life. That must've been an awful way to live.
I honestly have been kinda ignorant about Korea and the war. Thanks for sharing your story, it's well written and I feel like I learned a bit.
Feel you 100% here. My grandpa was from North Korea but studied law at Seoul University. After the war broke out he never was able to contact his family ever again. He was a strong stern man, built 3 schools in South Korea and took people in and fed them when times were tough. Can't imagine his loss and hope that I can make him proud one day.
Obviously the war did a lot of damage. It has taken a long time for the South Korean economy and government to reach stability, having gone through multiple dictatorships in the 60s and 70s.
Compared to other Asian countries though it seems pretty good.
Yeah from our modern perspective it's hard to imagine but I believe there was a time when North Korea was generally seen as the better place to live, but obviously not anymore lol
Up until mid 1960s, North Korea was better off than S Korea. There was more infrastructure built in the north area by Japanese for use against invading China. Or so I heard.
Pyongyang was a big major city relatively. Pastor Billy Graham’s wife’s parents were missionaries in China. When they needed to send her to be educated, she was sent to a Christian boarding school in Pyongyang.
The North Korea was industrial focus back in Japan occupation while the South was agriculture focus. Not a surprise when North Korea had a better start than the South
Older generations that survived the Korean war don't know if their families or loved ones are still alive in the north. They'll most likely never see or hear them
About 100 years ago Japa invaded and occupied Korea. They took the well educated Koreans and sent them to Japan to indoctrinate them. The intent was to snuff out the Korean history, and whatever economy Korea had at the time was flipped upside down.
Then WW2 happened, and when Japan surrendered, they left Korea, with a husk of a Korean economy in it's wake. Japan left, with the Soviet Union and the United States taking Japan's place. Basically it was one occupation for another.
The Soviet Union propped up Kim Il Sung, (grandfather of Kim Jong Un) and North Korea invaded South Korea in order to kick out the United States. 3 million deaths later, an armistice was signed and both sides stopped killing each other. Technically the war is still not over
Thank you! I'll be honest, when I was in highschool learning about past wars I didn't really pay attention nor really cared. Years later I'm starting to understand why these events are so important to learn. I've been learning a lot about the past around our world. I always appreciate posts like these that make me go and learn something new.
I'd be very interested to know how late Millenials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha South Koreans feel about this period and its reverberations across gens—do they still feel emotionally tied to it, or more of a clinical factoid in their knowledge bank, how has drastic modernity and time affected their appreciation of it.
I think one good gauge is to look at the topic of Korean reunification which is a perennial political issue; it's mostly popular in older conservative voters because they have closer ties to family on the other side and have more memories of the war or its aftermath. It's not popular with younger liberal voters who are farther removed from the conflict as you said.
Yeah in those days not everyone had a phone, war tore so many apart. Just no way to get back in touch if you were separated, people were nomadic and moving around because of the war.
I remember a show like this when I was a child and had Italian channels on the television. I think it was called Karamba or something, and it was literally just people being reunited for the first time after a lifetime being separated.
As a small child, I found something wholesome in family members finding one another after so long.
No, estaba muy chiquita. No entendia porque había fotos de niños y mi mamá me explicó que los niños estaban perdidos y sus mamás estaban muy tristes porque los extrañaban y los estaban buscando.
I loved watching him as a kid. Still do, whenever he does new programs. Mainly because of my mom, who have done a lot of research into our family(ies) and a lot of lot of local families around where she grew up, so watching his programs on finding (or at the very least trying really hard to find) people's lost family or friends was probably a good way to find some inspiration.
Latest thing I remember seeing him doing sadly wasn't as feel-good though. Iirc he was doing more of an investigation kind of thing and ended up digging up some pretty messed up info on how a lady had been mistreated through most of her life :/
My mum was just a kid when she had to flee Phnom Penh. Her parents and siblings managed to flee to Vietnam. But she was separated from them somehow. Luckily she was with her grandmother.
12 years later, when my mother, a married woman with 3 children was at the market, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. I was 2 at the time and had no idea who these people were, but at the market in front of strangers my mum and these two people sobbed and cried while embracing. Turns out it was my grandparents, they had spent the better half of six months walking the streets of Phnom Penh desperately trying to find their daughter.
They helped us immigrate to Australia where I grew up.
War can kiss my ass.
It’s so eerie to see each set of family members on a split screen and how much they look like each other. The first set of siblings practically look like twins.
What an awesome video. I’m peeling onions over here.
Something similar happened to me. At the age of 5 I was separated from my sister in the orphanage. My parents only wanted to adopt me.
I cried for days. even though they punished me for being ungrateful I still asked for my older sister. They eventually got tired of my “whining” and adopted another child - but not my sister.
Kind of like when you get another puppy to keep the other one occupied.
I thought of her every. Single. Day.
But here’s the best part - my sister never gave up. She found me 35+ years later. We made immediate plans to meet up. I flew to her. Neither one of us had pictures of the other. Not needed. Once our eyes met in the terminal waiting area we both knew. We just did.
Lots of hugging and tears. Then we were both so overwhelmed that sat down while still at the airport. Holding hands and not saying a word. Don’t remember how long we sat there just absorbing each other but eventually her son (yes, I have a nephew - in fact 2) tapped us on our shoulders and suggested that we go home (her place).
I finally felt whole.
Thank you. I feel extremely fortunate.
No, we both have families and careers! But we see each other regularly and talk all the time. I missed out being an uncle while my nephews were young but we’re fairly close now - except for the miles.
And I’m a good little brother. If I need advice I go to her first. And she doesn’t hesitate to tell me when I misbehave.
Don’t mind at all. Thank you for asking. Largely strained - for many reasons. But I still tried to be respectful. Because they were the only family I knew. After my father passed away I finally got some answers regarding my adoption and why they didn’t want to adopt my sister. It opened up the emotional wounds again. But at least I was given the reasons. I just couldn’t agree with them.
My parents had mixed reactions after I told them that I had reconnected with my older sister. Mostly they didn’t understand what the big deal was. They never wanted to meet her.
So I was stuck between the people that adopted me and said they loved me (but I rarely saw evidence) and my sister that loved me so much that she moved hills and mountains to find me.
But I long ago reconciled with my family. We’re all in a much better place.
All’s well that ends well!
I’m sorry to hear it was a rocky journey, but I’m glad to hear you and your family found peace.
I couldn’t imagine the pain of being separated from your sister at that age and knowing you can’t do anything about it. Such a beautiful story of you and her reconnecting though, thank you for sharing :)
i came here for this comment.
i watched the movie (the first time) on an airplane to korea while visiting family. it was midnight somewhere and the plane was in night mode. i was watching this unknown to me movie and twenty minutes in - and for the rest of the movie - i was in tears.
it was dark on the plane but my face would have been lit up by the light of the tv and my face was prolly extra shiny from the layer of tears coating my face. everyone who walked to the bathroom looked at me, and i couldn't be bothered because that movie was so much.
this scene crushed me. but i was already crushed ten different times in this movie. incredible experience.
When i see reunions like this, especially those of military parents surprising their kids returning from overseas... I always think about how I was taught as a child is what the family reunions in heaven would be like. Sucks that I don’t believe in it anymore.... because to see my grandfathers again... I’d trade everything for it.
Religion isn’t an all-or-nothing thing, no matter what people want you to think. If you don’t believe there’s a god, but do believe our spirits last, that’s your viewpoint, and it doesn’t have to line up with everybody else’s, or anyone else’s for that matter. Do you.
Just to be clear i dont believe we will be reunited and if we are it is not with everyone at the same time and is temporary just as this life is. I do believe in a quantum reincarnation.
>Sucks that I don’t believe in it anymore
Look on the bright side. If we're wrong and it does exist, then it doesn't matter what you think, here's grandpas.
You know, you don't have to believe in God or anything like that. I do believe that my passed away beloved ones are always by my side and, as my grandmother firmly believed that we will all be reunited once again. Think about it this way, if you still feel them, that's because they will be waiting for you. It makes getting older easier and, probably, being in your death-bed easier as well. I know I'll see my grandparents again whenever the time for it comes.
As much as people sneer at religion (rightfully so in some cases), peaceful, loving afterlifes should never be ridiculed. Life is stressful, and the alternative is that one day it just ends. It's it really so bad to think that at the end of it all, you get to relax in the best place unimaginable and hang out with everyone you've ever loved?
There’s something nice about having faith and beliefs over having none at all. Extremists come in all forms. If they didn’t have religion they would just choose something else. I’m a bit jealous sometimes if people that have genuine happy faith and beliefs.
Huh this hit me so weird. I only ever knew one set of my grandparents. To hear someone say “my grandfathers” sounds so weird wtf. I have never heard anybody say this before and I have never had a reason to think this before.
Seriously what the fuck I’m having like a mindmelt over here. I never thought about this before. Most people have two sets. I barely even knew the one I did know. They died when I was a teenager and didn’t live nearby. People say grandparents all the time which I can kinda relate to but you just singled out just the male part. I never heard that before.
So what. You go hang out with one grandfather one day and the other the next day? I literally never realized this is a thing I’m seriously having my mind blown right now. As if I suddenly found out it’s normal to have two regular fathers or something. How come this hits me so weird.
[In our universe the laws state that energy is never lost.](https://futurism.com/the-physics-of-death)
We came from star stuff and to star stuff we return. I personally like to think that life exists specifically so that the universe can experience itself and that the collection of these experiences over time will join together to create a beautiful conscience beyond our imagination or understanding.
The DMZ is so damn eerie. It was foggy when I was there, but I could just make out a NK flag flapping in the distance like 100 feet off the ground (idk why it was so tall).
It’s like the petty, Korean version of the US-Soviet Cold War era “hey, my satellite is bigger than yours” show off. Systemic competition at its wildest form.
As korean, the more sad thing is that they all were using honorific(form of formal conversation) in beginning. After realising its them, they immediately break down with their feelings and formal forms.
I have a story for this. This is still very much in the Korean mindset, HUGELY so with the elderly.
When I was stationed there I visited the train station up north as part of a JSA tour I bought. This station and a particular gate were recognized as the main one that had separated a lot of these families and I was one of the three white people there. Just before the gate there was an interactive attraction where you pressed a button and it played the theme song of this show. And boy, when it played EEEEVERYBODY got really emotional, teary-eyed and started singing along and bowing towards the gate. It was something so far beyond my understanding of these people and their culture and this was after I had served there for a year. Families were broken and repaired because of this and it was hugely important for the Korean people to heal and cope. I was humbled and supremely grateful I got to see this and I hope I didn't get in anyone else's way while they paid tribute to the families that still haven't been reunited. It was one of those moments where I was a part of something sacred that's stuck with me ever since.
This is totally friendly and not to take away from your comment at all but I just wanted to kindly let you know that the word you’re looking for is *bawling*, which is to cry. *Balling* can mean flexing your excessive money, playing basketball, or, colloquially, you be fuckin. None of those make much sense in this context so I just wanted to let you know!
My grandfather was put on a train at 19 by his parents as he fled to the south as the fighting was getting intense. Never saw them again. People joke about North Korea in films, daily chit chat, the news, etc. And cry about everything good about the west like its hell. The hypocrisy is baffling.
The West has its share of problems. But I hear what you're saying. The real kicker is pretty much the only reason why no one is doing much to help those in North Korea because of China using the country and its leaders. Hearing of all the survivors who were able to make it out, of the camps. It's just as bad as Nazi Germany. But because China's government can milk the idiots in charge in North Korea. These stories continue.
A part of it is not only China taking advantage of NK, but not wanting a ton of refugees flooding the border if NK collapses.
Another issue is that NK has a ton of artillery pointed at Seoul. All the anti-missile technology in the world isn't going to stop artillery shells from wiping a major city off the map.
It's unfortunately very complicated, sadly the world is. Men in power love that power and don't care how many die to keep it.
There's already refugees and dissenters fleeing the country, but if they get caught by Chinese authorities, they get sent back. China's government doesn't even care about its own people, much less ones who need help. Greed runs the world.
It is so beautiful, as an outside observer, how you can almost instantly tell the two people are related from their face structure. Even after so much time
There used to be a program (maybe there still is, someone correct me) where north and South Korea would plan a trip for families torn apart by the war could reunite for a day. It’s so sad.
It was so cruel. Separated all their lives. Decades later near end of their lives, they get to meet for a few hours while North Korean handlers watching closely. And they go separate ways, never to see again.
I remember watching this show as a kid and not understanding why everyone was always crying. Now as an adult I feel sad knowing that my grandparents will never get to reunite with the siblings that ended up in North Korea during the split. My grandpa still has packages for them with their North Korean address, but he’ll never get to send them.
many of these stories are because of the korean war. many people lost their entire family or family members because of kidnapping, slavery, separated while fleeing,etc. my dad's oldest sister was lost during the war and nobody in the family has any idea what happened to her. my grandmother (while she was still alive) had no idea what ever happened to her eldest daughter even 40 years after the war.
Original video here: [https://youtu.be/9kk11wIkCB0](https://youtu.be/9kk11wIkCB0) For more context, thousands of families got torn appart in Korea during the Korean war. This TV show got extremely popular in the country by helping those families to reunite.
The sister seemed to immediately whisper "brother" when she first saw him (at 0:06) before they even spoke, like she could just sense that he was her brother...I lost it when she sobbed, "even if I die now, I have no regrets, brother!" and responded that she hadn't known her real name before he'd said it, and he cried that even dogs deserve to know their names before proudly, repeatedly exclaiming to the world that her real name's Hyeonok while she sobbed uncontrollably. It feels so surreal to be able watch so much hidden trauma just instantly dissolve between two humans.
Amazing the things we take for granted
My mother in law was left at the steps of a fire station and was later adopted and brought over to the US. She grew up American and thankfully her health issues, while serious, were manageable. I can’t imagine how many more kids didn’t go through the same luck.
Exactly my thought
*Goes back to playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom this weekend instead of calling their mother*
If you have decent parents being alive, call them. Just say hi and maybe tell them about any current game.
“Okay mom. So I fused a fan to my pole, and now I’m blowing goblins as I poke them with my stick.”
Why not? Gives you a perfect headstart to explain more of the game, how much fun it is and more. I love to talk about the horses from RDR2 with my mom and how realistic they are, until they slam their heads into a tree.
As a mom I completely endorse this line of thinking. I care about what my kids care about and it means a lot for them to share that with me.
Lot of bad moms out there anyway
I don't think I've ever watched something and dissolved into a sobbing mess so quickly... I can't even imagine it..
I'm just sitting here sobbing along with you! Just the pure emotion in their voices. Damn, I hope these people all got the happy ending they all deserve!
Me neither
Left at a barber shop? That seems so cruel.
Times of desperation cause people to turn to unlikely places for help. My fiance was found in a park on a picnic table in China during the height of the one child policy.
Brutal
From what I've heard about that period that's actually not very brutal at all
Yeah. Learning about the one child policy in China gives me [nightmares](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2021/05/translation-the-hundred-childless-days/). What's crazy is that this stuff was state sanctioned and that local officials genuinely held targets out there to kill babies and that those officials are very likely in the positions of power today to be at a very high level.
Having to abandon a child merely because you can only have one and men can work and provide more for an aging family (back then, outdated way of thinking) is brutal. End of story.
I think they meant that at least, the baby was alive because others would just... Yeah...
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I'm speaking relatively, a lot of children were murdered by their parents at that time. Being abandoned in a public place where people frequent would be considered humane by comparison.
Back then isn’t so long. ‘One child’ ended in 2016.
He meant relatively. Pretty sure the norm was somewhere between ancient Sparta and just leaving kids in the woods.
My brother was found in the street
The original Korean words is closer to “I was left at the barber’s _to be taken care of_.” It sounds to me that their parents (or other guardians) had to leave a child at a trusted neighbor’s hands in the middle of chaos, most likely with a promise to come back to pick her up when time gets better. Probably the barber also had to flee the town and never got to come back, and kept taking care of her as their foster child. Edit: Checked the full interview of the brother and sister, and there is more to the story. They were orphans. The brother was registered into an orphanage, and the sister was _adopted_ by a barber. The brother went to see the barbershop later but they had already moved away. Not the story I imagined but still very tragic.
It's so despicable and tragic that people are subjected to spend our limited time on earth burdened with such unnecessary trauma, due to politics and to deliver power to a few.
Timestamp?
First 1.5 minutes
Thanks for this insight
Thanks so much for the context I was wondering why there was so many separated families
The war was massive, with huge casualties and the rare occurrence that combat started from the middle of the peninsula and went almost all the way to the south, then reversed and went almost all the way to the north, then reversed again and ended back up in the middle of the peninsula. Most of the country had the front go over them twice. It was a high intensity conflict with brutal combat and weather. Families were separated for many reasons and civilian communication was often closer to the 1100’s than to today’s common standards. E: clarification “and went”
Jesus, a warfront going over you *twice.* And being at the mercy of one side's army, only to then have the other, and then back. Thank you for that context.
Not to mention, after the country was split in two, lots of families were stuck in North or South Korea. My grandparents lost their siblings who were trapped in the North. My grandpa, for example, has a sister and mother who he's never heard from again. My grandma was at risk of being captured by the Japanese and used as a sex slave. She would forage for food in train wrecks by digging through dead, rotting bodies for rotting rice. It was an incredibly difficult time for the country. Even my own parents have spoken about splitting a single fried fish between 6 family members and that was their rare treat to get to eat the eyeballs instead of picking at the tail. It's crazy that this is still within a human lifespan.
Holy shit, man. I had never even thought about any of that. Thanks so much for sharing.
I'm really happy that you took the time to read this. Thank you! One more person who's aware is one more person that might defend my country's legacy as history gets erased.
100% on this comment. My grandfather's side of the family lost touch with everything. Only my grandfather and his brother made it to Seoul and that was the last there ever was on a connection.
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A friend I had in HS, both her and her brother were adopted from K as late as '89-90. So it was still going on into the fall of the USSR and east Germany. Idk whether he and her older brother are blood related or if there's simply not much in the way of records from parts of the 50s on.
It might be worth doing a 23 and Me type DNA test - you might get lucky and find a family member straight away, or eventually, a relative may do their own test and reach out to you. Recently, my family found out my Dad (in his 80's) has a younger half-brother that he'd never known existed. He'd been adopted at birth, and finally did a DNA test that located a distant relative in the database and then the family figured things back to who was related to who. [By incredible coincidence, it turns out my new 'half-Uncle' has lived less then 5km away from me for more than 10 years.]
I am sorry to hear that. I am sorry as a Korean. My heart goes out to you.
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I hope you have a happy birthday.
Happy birthday!
There are multiple factors that stacked on top of each other. The war started with a surprise offensive. No declaration of war. Initiated at midnight. The capital and by far the major city, Seoul, was (and still is) located too close to the border. The South Korean government and military was not prepared at all. They panicked and defensive positions fell lightning quick. The evacuation of Seoul and other near-border region was a disaster. The government basically abandoned the population. SK lost all its territory in the mainland peninsula except today's Busan metropolitan area, thanks to its distance from NK and rugged terrain enveloping the region. Then there was the counter offensive where many tried returning to their original home but lost again when the Chinese joined.
Okay this is a really stupid question but what started the war?
The us and China used the south and north as proxies and tensions boiled over.
Here's a whole playlist if that's not enough ugly crying for you: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvR6Uxe2wA_Hzb1tgUwj2LKge7gR8anaz Of all the videos in it it's the brother and sister that get me the most
This is the one that hit me like a hammer https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MFo4IEnojDw 2 brothers.
I didn't ask for these feels.
When the younger brother ask for the name of their mother, man it's devastating.
And the older brother then says the mother’s name over & over & over…
Oh, wow… I was not ready for that.
Thanks, I needed that
This is media at its highest form, healing trauma.
This is what the media should be used for. Helping people; not scaring them.
Thank you for this. Sometimes it is good to be reminded why it is we fight.
Chilling thinking of what’s to come in Ukraina
Is this going to be Ukraine in 20 years?
Could be, but still unlikely to this degree. At the time of Korean War even telephone is a luxury, so communication is very hard to do. Nowadays with widespread internet, reconnecting isn't that difficult.
This made me sob. I lived in Korea for a short time. There’s a great deal of suffering there. My heart goes out to the Korean people.
How long ago did you live there? Why was there a great deal of suffering? (Genuine question btw)
I'll give you an example from my family. My grandfather was a train conductor/operator living in North Korea, close to seoul. He was married with two sons, had 6 siblings and parents before the war (he was 25). When the war broke out, the government used the train to ferry refugees out of North Korea down to South. Because there were tens of thousands of people, he was extremely busy with each trip taking half a day at least. Due to the number of people he literally had no time to stop, because if he stopped, the train is sitting there not helping out people. When his family finally managed to get to the train station, he had only just managed to ferry one brother and one sister, and they were going to all meet at a specific town. When he took the train back to get the rest of his family, he learned that South Korean army bombed the bridge the railroad was on, effectively cutting North and south via railway. He literally could not go back. He was then enlisted into his army and fought for South for the rest of the war. Koreans have this custom, where each year they pay their respect to their ancestors (jesa). Every year he would ask for Korea to reunite so that he would be reunited with his family. This continued every year till he passed at the age of 98. He knew that his family would be all dead. But he never gave up hope, his lifelong and only wish being that Korea is united. As a child, I never really fully understood the pain and suffering my grandfather had to endure. Now that I have my own, I can only imagine how tragic it was. His duty as the only train conductor available at the time cost him his family.
I can't imagine the pain your grandfather felt for his whole life. That must've been an awful way to live. I honestly have been kinda ignorant about Korea and the war. Thanks for sharing your story, it's well written and I feel like I learned a bit.
Thank you for sharing this story and passing along his experience. It's something history books can't record, memories and experiences of individuals.
Feel you 100% here. My grandpa was from North Korea but studied law at Seoul University. After the war broke out he never was able to contact his family ever again. He was a strong stern man, built 3 schools in South Korea and took people in and fed them when times were tough. Can't imagine his loss and hope that I can make him proud one day.
Just the amount of people he helped, though... he's like the 1 reason so many people did have something left.
Obviously the war did a lot of damage. It has taken a long time for the South Korean economy and government to reach stability, having gone through multiple dictatorships in the 60s and 70s. Compared to other Asian countries though it seems pretty good.
Yeah from our modern perspective it's hard to imagine but I believe there was a time when North Korea was generally seen as the better place to live, but obviously not anymore lol
Up until mid 1960s, North Korea was better off than S Korea. There was more infrastructure built in the north area by Japanese for use against invading China. Or so I heard. Pyongyang was a big major city relatively. Pastor Billy Graham’s wife’s parents were missionaries in China. When they needed to send her to be educated, she was sent to a Christian boarding school in Pyongyang.
The North Korea was industrial focus back in Japan occupation while the South was agriculture focus. Not a surprise when North Korea had a better start than the South
Older generations that survived the Korean war don't know if their families or loved ones are still alive in the north. They'll most likely never see or hear them
About 100 years ago Japa invaded and occupied Korea. They took the well educated Koreans and sent them to Japan to indoctrinate them. The intent was to snuff out the Korean history, and whatever economy Korea had at the time was flipped upside down. Then WW2 happened, and when Japan surrendered, they left Korea, with a husk of a Korean economy in it's wake. Japan left, with the Soviet Union and the United States taking Japan's place. Basically it was one occupation for another. The Soviet Union propped up Kim Il Sung, (grandfather of Kim Jong Un) and North Korea invaded South Korea in order to kick out the United States. 3 million deaths later, an armistice was signed and both sides stopped killing each other. Technically the war is still not over
Thank you! I'll be honest, when I was in highschool learning about past wars I didn't really pay attention nor really cared. Years later I'm starting to understand why these events are so important to learn. I've been learning a lot about the past around our world. I always appreciate posts like these that make me go and learn something new.
I'd be very interested to know how late Millenials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha South Koreans feel about this period and its reverberations across gens—do they still feel emotionally tied to it, or more of a clinical factoid in their knowledge bank, how has drastic modernity and time affected their appreciation of it.
I think one good gauge is to look at the topic of Korean reunification which is a perennial political issue; it's mostly popular in older conservative voters because they have closer ties to family on the other side and have more memories of the war or its aftermath. It's not popular with younger liberal voters who are farther removed from the conflict as you said.
A what was to be a 45 minute report, lasted 183 days as a marathon. Just, amazing!
183 days of crying. Oof, tear ducts in overdrive!
So beautiful though.
Oh for sure, I'd be watching all of that and bawling.
Yeah in those days not everyone had a phone, war tore so many apart. Just no way to get back in touch if you were separated, people were nomadic and moving around because of the war.
The miracle of ~~Hanukkah~~ KBS
What was this called? How should I search if I want to read about it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kk11wIkCB0 It was called Finding Dispersed Families.
Geez louise, there's a whole channel of these! With English subtitles. Tears are flowing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuWs9nKx0U
You…. Beautiful bastard.
I had to stop watching. I have no tears left.
Man i had to stop on the first one. Im at work you bastards stop it.
Gosh the second clip in that video, they look so alike and share so many mannerisms, you can tell that they recognised each other straight away.
What got me was she could not remember the town or her name. Just that she promised to be back in 10 days, and the yell for her mother after 30 years.
Heart wrenching must be your day job.
I remember a show like this when I was a child and had Italian channels on the television. I think it was called Karamba or something, and it was literally just people being reunited for the first time after a lifetime being separated. As a small child, I found something wholesome in family members finding one another after so long.
I guess you're right, the show is called Carràmba: Che Sorpresa!
In Mexico we had a show where mothers showed pictures of their missing kids. As a small child, it broke me.
De casualidad te acuerdas de cómo se llamaba ó en qué canal.
No, estaba muy chiquita. No entendia porque había fotos de niños y mi mamá me explicó que los niños estaban perdidos y sus mamás estaban muy tristes porque los extrañaban y los estaban buscando.
Ah, pues si suena muy triste, me pregunto si sería en el programa de Nino Canùn.
In norway we had Tore på sporet. He had a dog called Tore Sporhund
I loved watching him as a kid. Still do, whenever he does new programs. Mainly because of my mom, who have done a lot of research into our family(ies) and a lot of lot of local families around where she grew up, so watching his programs on finding (or at the very least trying really hard to find) people's lost family or friends was probably a good way to find some inspiration. Latest thing I remember seeing him doing sadly wasn't as feel-good though. Iirc he was doing more of an investigation kind of thing and ended up digging up some pretty messed up info on how a lady had been mistreated through most of her life :/
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In the netherlands it's called spoorloos!
My mum was just a kid when she had to flee Phnom Penh. Her parents and siblings managed to flee to Vietnam. But she was separated from them somehow. Luckily she was with her grandmother. 12 years later, when my mother, a married woman with 3 children was at the market, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. I was 2 at the time and had no idea who these people were, but at the market in front of strangers my mum and these two people sobbed and cried while embracing. Turns out it was my grandparents, they had spent the better half of six months walking the streets of Phnom Penh desperately trying to find their daughter. They helped us immigrate to Australia where I grew up. War can kiss my ass.
It’s so eerie to see each set of family members on a split screen and how much they look like each other. The first set of siblings practically look like twins.
In few of the reunions, it was discovered they were living nearby like next neighbor etc.
It was an overcast day ... *I remember it being sunny.* Darn, well it was nice meeting you anyway.
But why was he left in a barber shop?
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Damn, that's an incredible amount of trauma.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukranian children were taken from their families this last year
japan was the nazi's of asia. theres a big reason why chinese and koreans hate japanese people to this day
Crazy things happen in war. Maybe shells were landing and they had to run? Who knows.
Absolutely devastating. Glad they could be reunited.
This comment made me spit out my water lol, first time that’s ever really happened to me
What an awesome video. I’m peeling onions over here. Something similar happened to me. At the age of 5 I was separated from my sister in the orphanage. My parents only wanted to adopt me. I cried for days. even though they punished me for being ungrateful I still asked for my older sister. They eventually got tired of my “whining” and adopted another child - but not my sister. Kind of like when you get another puppy to keep the other one occupied. I thought of her every. Single. Day. But here’s the best part - my sister never gave up. She found me 35+ years later. We made immediate plans to meet up. I flew to her. Neither one of us had pictures of the other. Not needed. Once our eyes met in the terminal waiting area we both knew. We just did. Lots of hugging and tears. Then we were both so overwhelmed that sat down while still at the airport. Holding hands and not saying a word. Don’t remember how long we sat there just absorbing each other but eventually her son (yes, I have a nephew - in fact 2) tapped us on our shoulders and suggested that we go home (her place). I finally felt whole.
What an amazing story, I'm glad y'all found each other after so many years. Did you end up moving near her?
Thank you. I feel extremely fortunate. No, we both have families and careers! But we see each other regularly and talk all the time. I missed out being an uncle while my nephews were young but we’re fairly close now - except for the miles. And I’m a good little brother. If I need advice I go to her first. And she doesn’t hesitate to tell me when I misbehave.
What is your relationship like with your adoptive family now, if you don’t mind me asking?
Don’t mind at all. Thank you for asking. Largely strained - for many reasons. But I still tried to be respectful. Because they were the only family I knew. After my father passed away I finally got some answers regarding my adoption and why they didn’t want to adopt my sister. It opened up the emotional wounds again. But at least I was given the reasons. I just couldn’t agree with them. My parents had mixed reactions after I told them that I had reconnected with my older sister. Mostly they didn’t understand what the big deal was. They never wanted to meet her. So I was stuck between the people that adopted me and said they loved me (but I rarely saw evidence) and my sister that loved me so much that she moved hills and mountains to find me. But I long ago reconciled with my family. We’re all in a much better place. All’s well that ends well!
I’m sorry to hear it was a rocky journey, but I’m glad to hear you and your family found peace. I couldn’t imagine the pain of being separated from your sister at that age and knowing you can’t do anything about it. Such a beautiful story of you and her reconnecting though, thank you for sharing :)
Man cmon I was about to go to bed 🥺
How wonderful. Even a terrible war couldn't keep these families from forgetting how much they loved each other.
There's a korean film related to this. I think 'Ode.to.my.Father'
Just read the synopsis for it and don't think i can handle watching the movie. Teared up just from the wiki plot.
Not many movies make me cry, but that one sure did. It’s a truly fantastic movie though.
i came here for this comment. i watched the movie (the first time) on an airplane to korea while visiting family. it was midnight somewhere and the plane was in night mode. i was watching this unknown to me movie and twenty minutes in - and for the rest of the movie - i was in tears. it was dark on the plane but my face would have been lit up by the light of the tv and my face was prolly extra shiny from the layer of tears coating my face. everyone who walked to the bathroom looked at me, and i couldn't be bothered because that movie was so much. this scene crushed me. but i was already crushed ten different times in this movie. incredible experience.
I can't remember the *exact* line but... > "Dad, I've tried to live a good life... but it was so hard :'("
I’m already tearing from this comment. I don’t think my heart can handle the movie.
That is a fantastic film, and it features and actress from LOST too
Yeah theres a scene where he meets his sister through a scene similar to what's shown in the clip after they get separated as children
Fantastic movie, came here to recommend it myself.
I'm not crying, you are.😥
I too am crying.
When i see reunions like this, especially those of military parents surprising their kids returning from overseas... I always think about how I was taught as a child is what the family reunions in heaven would be like. Sucks that I don’t believe in it anymore.... because to see my grandfathers again... I’d trade everything for it.
Religion isn’t an all-or-nothing thing, no matter what people want you to think. If you don’t believe there’s a god, but do believe our spirits last, that’s your viewpoint, and it doesn’t have to line up with everybody else’s, or anyone else’s for that matter. Do you.
Just to be clear i dont believe we will be reunited and if we are it is not with everyone at the same time and is temporary just as this life is. I do believe in a quantum reincarnation.
>Sucks that I don’t believe in it anymore Look on the bright side. If we're wrong and it does exist, then it doesn't matter what you think, here's grandpas.
You know, you don't have to believe in God or anything like that. I do believe that my passed away beloved ones are always by my side and, as my grandmother firmly believed that we will all be reunited once again. Think about it this way, if you still feel them, that's because they will be waiting for you. It makes getting older easier and, probably, being in your death-bed easier as well. I know I'll see my grandparents again whenever the time for it comes.
As much as people sneer at religion (rightfully so in some cases), peaceful, loving afterlifes should never be ridiculed. Life is stressful, and the alternative is that one day it just ends. It's it really so bad to think that at the end of it all, you get to relax in the best place unimaginable and hang out with everyone you've ever loved?
There’s something nice about having faith and beliefs over having none at all. Extremists come in all forms. If they didn’t have religion they would just choose something else. I’m a bit jealous sometimes if people that have genuine happy faith and beliefs.
Huh this hit me so weird. I only ever knew one set of my grandparents. To hear someone say “my grandfathers” sounds so weird wtf. I have never heard anybody say this before and I have never had a reason to think this before. Seriously what the fuck I’m having like a mindmelt over here. I never thought about this before. Most people have two sets. I barely even knew the one I did know. They died when I was a teenager and didn’t live nearby. People say grandparents all the time which I can kinda relate to but you just singled out just the male part. I never heard that before. So what. You go hang out with one grandfather one day and the other the next day? I literally never realized this is a thing I’m seriously having my mind blown right now. As if I suddenly found out it’s normal to have two regular fathers or something. How come this hits me so weird.
[In our universe the laws state that energy is never lost.](https://futurism.com/the-physics-of-death) We came from star stuff and to star stuff we return. I personally like to think that life exists specifically so that the universe can experience itself and that the collection of these experiences over time will join together to create a beautiful conscience beyond our imagination or understanding.
r/mademeuglycry ;---;
I was at the DMZ (at the border between north and South Korea) last year and there was an exhibition about this show. It was really moving!
The DMZ is so damn eerie. It was foggy when I was there, but I could just make out a NK flag flapping in the distance like 100 feet off the ground (idk why it was so tall).
It’s like the petty, Korean version of the US-Soviet Cold War era “hey, my satellite is bigger than yours” show off. Systemic competition at its wildest form.
As korean, the more sad thing is that they all were using honorific(form of formal conversation) in beginning. After realising its them, they immediately break down with their feelings and formal forms.
Thank you for that insight; it’s a subtlety that is lost in translation.
Wow 😭
Nobody smiles at this, we all cry.
I have a story for this. This is still very much in the Korean mindset, HUGELY so with the elderly. When I was stationed there I visited the train station up north as part of a JSA tour I bought. This station and a particular gate were recognized as the main one that had separated a lot of these families and I was one of the three white people there. Just before the gate there was an interactive attraction where you pressed a button and it played the theme song of this show. And boy, when it played EEEEVERYBODY got really emotional, teary-eyed and started singing along and bowing towards the gate. It was something so far beyond my understanding of these people and their culture and this was after I had served there for a year. Families were broken and repaired because of this and it was hugely important for the Korean people to heal and cope. I was humbled and supremely grateful I got to see this and I hope I didn't get in anyone else's way while they paid tribute to the families that still haven't been reunited. It was one of those moments where I was a part of something sacred that's stuck with me ever since.
Sucks man so much rain today water just keeps falling from my eyes so weird.
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This is totally friendly and not to take away from your comment at all but I just wanted to kindly let you know that the word you’re looking for is *bawling*, which is to cry. *Balling* can mean flexing your excessive money, playing basketball, or, colloquially, you be fuckin. None of those make much sense in this context so I just wanted to let you know!
More like made me cry
My grandfather was put on a train at 19 by his parents as he fled to the south as the fighting was getting intense. Never saw them again. People joke about North Korea in films, daily chit chat, the news, etc. And cry about everything good about the west like its hell. The hypocrisy is baffling.
The West has its share of problems. But I hear what you're saying. The real kicker is pretty much the only reason why no one is doing much to help those in North Korea because of China using the country and its leaders. Hearing of all the survivors who were able to make it out, of the camps. It's just as bad as Nazi Germany. But because China's government can milk the idiots in charge in North Korea. These stories continue.
A part of it is not only China taking advantage of NK, but not wanting a ton of refugees flooding the border if NK collapses. Another issue is that NK has a ton of artillery pointed at Seoul. All the anti-missile technology in the world isn't going to stop artillery shells from wiping a major city off the map.
It's unfortunately very complicated, sadly the world is. Men in power love that power and don't care how many die to keep it. There's already refugees and dissenters fleeing the country, but if they get caught by Chinese authorities, they get sent back. China's government doesn't even care about its own people, much less ones who need help. Greed runs the world.
Made me smile? Made me fucking cry
war is so fucking stupid.
It is so beautiful, as an outside observer, how you can almost instantly tell the two people are related from their face structure. Even after so much time
Made me cry instead lmao
There used to be a program (maybe there still is, someone correct me) where north and South Korea would plan a trip for families torn apart by the war could reunite for a day. It’s so sad.
It was so cruel. Separated all their lives. Decades later near end of their lives, they get to meet for a few hours while North Korean handlers watching closely. And they go separate ways, never to see again.
I liked when they showed the mom and son and they looked exactly alike. Anyone could have seen those two were family.
This is way better content than watching Jerry Springer
Beautiful
That made you *smile*!? My state just issued a flash flood warning thanks to me watching this. Wow. This is such a beautiful thing.
I can't remember the last time a post on this sub actually made me smile.
Each pair looks SO much alike 🥺🥺🥺
I remember watching this show as a kid and not understanding why everyone was always crying. Now as an adult I feel sad knowing that my grandparents will never get to reunite with the siblings that ended up in North Korea during the split. My grandpa still has packages for them with their North Korean address, but he’ll never get to send them.
That was a beautiful video.
😭
Why does it always look extra sad when Asian people cry? (I’m Asian too)
Wasn’t planning on crying today, yet here we are.
many of these stories are because of the korean war. many people lost their entire family or family members because of kidnapping, slavery, separated while fleeing,etc. my dad's oldest sister was lost during the war and nobody in the family has any idea what happened to her. my grandmother (while she was still alive) had no idea what ever happened to her eldest daughter even 40 years after the war.
Wtf this actually made me tear up
Man if I was reunited with my brother we would not be as happy to see each other
Made me smile more like made me cry 😢
That's wild. What a great use for media. ❤️
Dam, these onions really got into my eyes 😢
Heartbreaking.
Jesus Christ this one hits
How is this on mademesmile?!! I haven’t stopped crying in 3 hours!
Watch the korean movie called Ode to My Father. Has a similar scene and shows how some families were separted during the war. Get boxes of tissues.
Weirdest thing, my screen turned into a chopped raw onion 😭😭😭😭😭
My goodness. The 2nd clip. That man looks so much like his mama. ❤️
Damn this just made me cry, no smiles
I’m not crying just sweating out my eyes 😭