Mother Dies in Coma Without Seeing Lost Son

For 41 years, Haeng-Ok Kang searched for her eldest son, who vanished in South Korea at the onset of the Korean War. In June, after decades of contacting government officials, refugee camps and veterans groups, Kang, who emigrated to Los Angeles from South Korea in 1976, learned 59-year-old Kang Dae-Yong was living in North Korea with a family of his own.

Kang, who had never lost hope that her son was alive, had wanted to travel to North Korea to see him and meet his wife and the couple’s five children. But the great-grandmother suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma weeks after receiving word that her son had been found. She died Thursday at 7:20 a.m. at the age of 80. Doctors said the cause of death was complications brought on by the stroke and subsequent coma, according to a family spokesman.

Last month in View, Kang’s grandson, Hyungwon Kang, wrote about his grandmother’s quest to find her eldest son, who disappeared at the age of 18. He explained that his grandmother, who lived in Hancock Park, received a letter from her son in June. She had seen a Korean-American TV program on which a minister had asked for information about missing relatives. Kang provided details, which the minister presented to North Korean authorities.

The North Korean office of the United Nations in New York is trying to clear diplomatic obstacles for Dae-Yong to travel to his mother’s funeral.

A private funeral service will be conducted Wednesday. Friends of the Kang family can pay their last respects from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Korean Funeral Home, 2045 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles.