Day Of 1,000 Tears In Korea

In Korea, Thursday was the day of 200 goodbyes.

In a country that was divided by a war that began 50 years ago, 200 Koreans torn apart by that war had just three days to reclaim their stolen lives.

As part of an accord reached at a historic summit of their leaders in June, the two Koreas -- which had vowed to destroy each other -- exchanged 100 people each this week for three days of temporary reunions with long-lost relatives.

In Seoul, CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen reports the homecoming ended Thursday.

The heavily fortified line between South Korea and the communist North-- that cold war wall that has not come down-- was breached this week, not by bullets, but by tears.

100 people traveled to the south, another 100 to the north-- each one a story of lives wrenched apart long ago. Their families were scattered by the war and for five decades as no communication was allowed between north and south.

An Soon-Hwan left for school and never came home.

His mother Lee Dok-Soon, now hospitalized with stomach cancer, said she had given her son up for dead.

"It's a miracle," she said.

But the real miracle was the meeting.

"I see you the first time in 50 years," said An Soon Hwan, a grown man who admitted, "I just want to call you…my mommy."

"My heart is beating so hard," his mother said.

The reunited Koreans filled in the missing years, sometimes with old photographs, and sometimes just by touching.

And these are the lucky few-- the very, very few. Some 75,000 South Koreans applied for this reunion. For those left out, this is a bitter day added to 50 years of waiting.

Yoo Soon I’s husband was drafted into the North Korean army. Pregnant, she fled to the south, raising their son alone. She never remarried, and has been told her husband is alive, but wasn’t a part of this reunion.

"This is a very painful time for me," she said. "I just want to see him."

And she just may. These reunions came after the first-ever summit between north and south since the war. And North Korea's leader now says there should be more reunions.

A wife got to see her missing husband and he, for the first time, got to see his daughter. "If it’s a dream," the daughter said, "I hope it lasts forever."

The bigger dream is that these small moments could someday lead to a larger moment-- reunification between north and south with the bitterness of a war washed away by tears of joy.