South Korean Mother, 90, Dies Before Reunion

A 90-year-old South Korean woman died three days after being told that a son she had not seen for 50 years was alive in North Korea and might come to see her, officials with the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday.

Hwang Bong Soon was overjoyed when officials told her July 16 that her 68-year-old son, who was living in the North, might be allowed to go to Seoul for a family reunion. Officials proceeded to set up the meeting, only to find that Hwang had died in the meantime.

Hwang and her son, Moon Byong Chil, were to meet during four days of temporary family reunions in Seoul next week. Similar reunions will take place simultaneously in Pyongyang, the North’s capital.

The reunions, the first since 1985, are a key part of an accord reached at a June summit of the leaders of the two Koreas. The accord requires the sides to exchange 100 people each for the reunions.

Red Cross officials learned of Hwang’s death Wednesday, when they called her home in South Korea to prepare for the reunion.

South Korean officials informed North Korea of Hwang’s death in a routine border contact Thursday.

It was unclear whether her son would visit Seoul as scheduled. He has two brothers and two sisters living in South Korea. The family was separated at the start of the Korean War in 1950, local media reported.