War Refugees in South Korea Mourn Families Left in the North

Decades after the Korean War, North Koreans who fled to South Korea’s Gyodong Island continue to grieve for their families across the border. Unable to visit ancestral graves, they perform funeral rites at a makeshift altar during the autumn harvest festival, paying tribute to relatives they have not seen since the war.

Gyodong, part of Ganghwa County, became home to many who fled Yeonbaek in the early 1950s. Their hometowns lie only a few kilometers away, separated by the heavily fortified border. Despite the island’s prosperity today, many residents say their lives remain marked by separation and loss.

Elderly refugees gather at local shops selling North Korean foods, where they sing traditional ballads that evoke memories of home. For them, the short physical distance to their homeland contrasts painfully with the enduring emotional divide that has persisted for more than seventy years.