Project to Re-Unite Korean-Americans

A war tore them apart from their families.  Now there's a new push to help reunite Korean-Americans with their loved ones.

Today, organizers launched the Saemsori project in Honolulu.  Its mission is to reconnect Korean-Americans with loved ones still in North Korea.

Many were completely cut off when North Korea shut its borders at the start of the war.  Letters and even phone calls were denied.

Now with the help of U.S. senators and congressmen, the Saemsori project hopes to re-open the lines of communication.

It's an effort to give our second and third-generation Korean-Americans a clear vision of who they are as the product of a tragedy, division of their native homeland," said Steven Linton of the Eugene Bell Foundation.

Local leaders estimate a third of the Koreans living in Hawaii have some tie to North Korea.

© Copyright 2004 KGMB9 – Emmis Communications. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.