Families in Tears after Confirming Kin in NK - 109-Yr-Old Mother Still Alive

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Chang I-yoon abandoned the hope that his mother could be alive in North Korea 0 years ago, and has been performing an ancestral rite for her since then.

Assuming that his mother was dead, Chang, 71, hoped to meet his 84-year-old eldest brother, when he was picked among 200 South Korean candidates for family reunions with their relatives in the North on Aug. 15.

To his shock, however, he was informed Thursday that his 109-year-old mother is still alive in North Korea. ``It's unbelievable that my mother is alive at that age. I feel like dreaming,'' Chang said in tears upon hearing the news.

Chang, who now lives in the southern port city of Pusan helping one of his sons run a small kitchenware factory, was separated from his family in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, in December 1950, when China sent legions of troops to …