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 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Han Ham-youn vividly remembers the day in December 1950 when his family broke apart. China had entered the Korean War, and as its forces stormed south, refugees were boarding ships at the Heungnam port in North Korea. There wasn't much room, and priority was being given to soldiers and war supplies. Han, being fit, single and 17 years old, was placed on a boat and headed to a new life in South Korea, leaving his parents behind. "That was the last time I saw them," he said, breaking into tears.
There are tens of thousands of people like Han in South Korea, who haven't heard a word about their families for 55 years. There are no mail, phone or e-mail connections across the world's last Cold War frontier. Han assumes his parents are dead, but can't be sure.
Things were supposed to change after the historic summit of June 15, 2000, between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and the then South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung. An agreement was struck that led to brief reunions of nearly 10,000 separated families, and the deeply emotional encounters encouraged the world to imagine that after 50 years of hostility and hair-trigger tensions, the two countries had finally turned a corner.
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