The Youngest Brother Lost from Grandmother's Hand, Mother Searched Until Her Last Moments [Finding Lost Family]

[Financial News] "I hope Seungwoo knows that his family is desperately looking for him."
Yang Yujin was worried that her brother Yang Seungwoo, who was lost 44 years ago (currently 47 years old·photo), might think he was abandoned by his family. The mother, who wandered for decades searching for Seungwoo, passed away seven years ago without forgetting her youngest son. Yujin continues the search for her brother to fulfill her mother's last wish.
Seungwoo went missing on August 1, 1981, when he was 3 years old, while walking with his paternal grandmother. The grandmother reportedly lost the child near Whimoon High School, which was located at the site of Hyundai Construction's Gye-dong office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. At that time, the mother had to work due to financial difficulties, and the father often left home due to alcoholism. With no one to care for the three siblings, the grandmother placed Yujin and her sister in an orphanage and left Seungwoo at their uncle's house. However, the uncle reportedly got angry, saying he couldn't raise his nephew. The grandmother was on her way to take the child out shortly after leaving him at the uncle's house.
When the mother learned that Seungwoo was missing, she went to the uncle to ask, but received no answers. The uncle and his wife couldn't even remember what clothes the child was wearing. The grandmother passed away shortly after losing Seungwoo.
The mother searched orphanages throughout Seoul to find Seungwoo. She then expanded her search to Gyeonggi-do and nationwide. Yujin entered an orphanage at the age of 5 and met her mother again in the third grade of elementary school. It was only then that she learned her brother was missing. While the mother searched for her brother, Yujin had to continue living in the orphanage. It wasn't until she became a middle school student that she could leave the orphanage and live with her mother. The mother appeared on broadcasts and traveled nationwide distributing flyers to find her brother's whereabouts. She even registered DNA with the police, but no news of Seungwoo came. The mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the end of 2010, refused to go to the hospital, fearing Seungwoo might come home and leave again. As her condition worsened, Yujin persuaded her mother that she would find her brother and was able to place her in a nursing home.
Yujin recalled memories of spending time with her brother in the hanok house in Bukahyeon-dong where she lived with her parents. Her family lived in a single room of a house shared by multiple generations, and Seungwoo reportedly watched Yujin and her sister play games in the yard. When they played house, the brother took on the role of the baby. The mother knitted clothes for the children. After the parents left the house, the siblings had to wait while crying. The house was near a market, and they often saw a puffed rice vendor.
Yujin said, "It's frustrating because the adults won't even tell us what clothes Seungwoo was wearing. Many clues were missed as they shifted responsibility," but added, "I haven't lost hope that if Seungwoo looks for us, we can meet soon. I hope he makes an effort to find his family at least once."

unsaid@fnnews.com Kang Myeongyeon Reporter