The Guardian

‘Still brothers’: seven decades of separation fails to fray South Korean family ties

Lee Su-nam says time has made his 86-year-old brother’s memory fade but that ‘everyone is still family’
South Korean Lee Su-nam on his way to meet his brother Lee Jeong-song in North Korea. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

The moment Lee Su-nam walked into an ornate hotel ballroom in North Korea and laid eyes on his brother for the first time in almost 70 years, he was filled with bittersweet emotions. It was a joyous reunion, but he struggled to recognise the man across from him, and will likely never see him again.

The two men wept and embraced, but both were at a loss for

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Guardian

The Guardian4 min read
The Golden Bachelor’s Older Singletons Have Saved A Franchise
Strange as it may sound, one of the hottest shows on TV this fall has been … an old dating series now catering, for once, to senior citizens. That would be The Golden Bachelor, a new spin-off of America’s pre-eminent dating series in which a 72-year-
The Guardian6 min read
From Kurt To Elvis, JFK And More, What Movies Did Stars See Just Before They Died?
Clad in black and wearing a cheeky-chappie grin, the artist and author Stanley Schtinter resembles Damon Albarn dressed as an undertaker. That suits his new book, Last Movies, which refracts cultural history through the prism of films watched by nota
The Guardian4 min read
Michael Bishop obituary
Michael Bishop, who has died aged 78, wrote many stories that inhabit the borderlands between science fiction and mainstream, drawing on influences as diverse as Ray Bradbury and Jorge Luis Borges, Thomas M Disch and Philip K Dick, Dylan Thomas and T

Related Books & Audiobooks