BBC News – Korea: rare family reunions take place.

Today it was on TV. North and South Koreans meet after many  years apart. These meetings are so restricted and often cancelled, which means that many (most) of the 70 000 on the waiting list will never get the chance. Many of them are more than 80 years old.

My husband visited North Korea in 2012 on the 100 years’ jubileé of Kim Il Sung. The man they treat as their God. Ordinary people live in hell here. They starve and infiltrate and are sent to death or to camps never to return. A devastating experience, from which he was glad to escape in one piece. He and his company where never allowed to meet ordinary people, never allowed to walk unguarded, and only allowed to take photos when they were permitted.

At the border the guards confiscated memory cards or emptied them. My husband managed to hide one in his clothes, so the pictures are here…showing parades and city buildings. Everything is grey. I’m glad I didn’t join him on this trip.