Family Unity--Via Overseas Mail

BACKGROUND: Last summer, Times staff photographer Hyungwon Kang wrote of his grandmother’s 41-year search for her eldest son, who disappeared in Korea after the outbreak of the Korean War. In June, days after receiving a letter from North Korea from her long-lost son, Haeng-Ok Kang lapsed into a coma and died. Eventually, the son, Kang Dae-Yong, was permitted to leave North Korea to attend his mother’s funeral in Los Angeles.

UPDATE: Since his return to North Korea, Kang Dae-Yong has maintained contact with his American relatives.

“He’s been writing each and every member of the family--three sisters, two brothers and 15 to 20 nephews--that he met while he was here,” says his photographer nephew. “Basically, there is no telephone communication from the U.S. to North Korea, and it’s too expensive from his end.”

At Christmas, the Kangs gathered at the grandmother’s tomb for a family photo, which they mailed to Kang Dae-Yong. “We miss him,” his nephew explains.

At the moment, the family has no plans to visit North Korea. “There’s no guarantee of security and no travel routes,” Kang says. Since most family members operate businesses and aren’t free to travel, the photographer says he’d be willing to visit on his family’s behalf: “I’m waiting for an invitation this year.”