Tears of joy as 33 exiles return

Ending decades of exile, 33 anti-government activists returned yesterday to their homeland in tears of joy.
“It took me 33 years to be recognized again as a legitimate Korean,” Kim Seong-su, 68, said yesterday as he landed at Incheon International Airport.
Mr. Kim left in 1966 to study in Germany, but the government barred him from returning in 1970, accusing him of conducting mass spy operations in Europe for North Korea against the South.
“There were many sleepless nights, because I just couldn’t believe that I was really going to my home town,” Mr. Kim said after arriving from Frankfurt.
“The first thing I will do is visit my parents’ graves in Hwasun, South Jeolla province.”
Branded as suspected North Korean spies or pro-Pyeongyang propagandists, about 60 overseas South Koreans had been banned from returning by the government.
But on Thursday, the Ministry of Justice lifted the ban on 34 people, citing the changing political climate and promotion of national unity as the reason for the amnesty.
Of those free to return, only Kwang Dong-ui, 73, could not travel yesterday due to poor health.
Four arrived from Germany and 29 came from Japan. The group will attend activist groups’ homecoming events during their stay here.
“My husband will now rest in peace,” Kim Gyeong-hee, 57, said yesterday as she arrived from Japan, carrying a portrait of Song In-ho, an activist who died in exile in 1997.
“He missed his hometown so much, even when he breathed his last breath.”
About 200 activists greeted the returnees at the airport. Shaking hands and hugging each other, the visitors and hosts shouted “national unification” in a joint slogan.
“This is a historic day of demolishing the wall of ideological conflicts and confrontations,” said the Reverend Hong Geun-su, who arranged the welcome events.
On a bus to downtown Seoul from the airport, the returnees could not take their eyes from the windows.
“I have lived in Japan for most of my life, but Japan never seemed like a homeland to me,” said Lee Chul, an activist from Osaka. Wiping his tears with a handkerchief, he continued, “I was away from Seoul for decades, but I just feel that I am home.”
The 33 are scheduled to leave individually starting Monday.

by Chang Chung-hoon