Photos by @junmichaelpark @seoulphotographer for @spiegelmagazin / 2020 marked the 70th anniversary since the Korean War broke out. Although an armistice was declared in 1953, the two Koreas technically remain at war until today and continue to live with the aftermath of the conflict. At the time, not only 3 million people — mostly civilians — lost their lives, but many families were forcefully separated by what is now still one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world.

Since the 1980s family reunions have been organized for members of separated families, usually for political reasons.

Der Spiegel’s reporter Katharina Peters and I profiled the story of Mr. Lee Su-nam, now 78, who briefly reunited with his older brother in 2018 for the first time in 68 years.

These meetings receive a lot of international attention and seem heart-warming and emotional at first glance, yet are really a one-time theatrical spectacle, without any further means for attendees to stay in touch or communicate. This is different from the story of the once similarly divided East and West Germany, where separated families were able to correspond, even if communication was monitored and/or censored.

“After meeting my brother, I feel like I’m a bird in a cage. I’m not free to meet or contact him again,” said Mr. Lee. I tried to express his As decades have passed and separated kin are growing old, some of the attendees in the South have become resigned, not knowing whether they will ever see or hear from their relatives again.

The story ran in Der Spigel’s first issue of 2021.

(Text editing by M.)