[Reporter’s Notebook] The Heartbreaking Stories of Families of the Missing

As the writer of a regular feature called "Finding Lost Families," I encounter families of missing persons once every four weeks. I listen to who disappeared, when it happened, and how, then condense their stories into short articles. Each case is different, but the families all share the same desperate hope, and every interview leaves me with a heavy heart.
Recently, one story felt especially poignant. It was the story of Baek Myeong-ja, who lost her daughter more than 40 years ago. Her daughter is believed to have been abducted in November 1978. Baek spent decades searching for her, but found almost no clues. In the meantime, her body broke down; she suffered from shingles, facial paralysis, myocardial infarction, cataracts, glaucoma, and insomnia. She underwent several major surgeries and narrowly escaped death more than once.
Baek has been through every imaginable hardship. She said she wants nothing more than to see her daughter just once while she is still alive. She does not know who took her child, but said she would not hold a grudge if the daughter was raised well. She meant that although she is the birth mother, she wants to forgive the people who raised her daughter, because they are also parents. In her words, you could hear a desperate wish that her daughter had at least grown up safely.
Baek’s daughter disappeared shortly after her second birthday. It is often said that children who go missing at such a young age and are raised by others sometimes grow up without knowing that their birth mother exists. Even when they learn they were once reported missing, many mistakenly believe they were abandoned and choose not to look for their biological parents. If the missing person has no will to search for family, the chances of a reunion are virtually zero.
There is, however, a very effective option for those who do want to find their families. They can request DNA analysis. This system registers the DNA of missing persons with the police and compares it with genetic information stored in a national database. There is no cost for providing a DNA sample, and the process takes less than five minutes.
In one real case, a boy who had been placed with relatives in 1978 because of financial hardship went missing after leaving home to look for his mother. Forty-four years later, DNA registration enabled them to reunite. The mother, while making inquiries about her son, decided to undergo DNA analysis. It was confirmed that her DNA matched that of a man staying at a welfare center in Jeonju. Had the son not registered his DNA in advance, the two would never have found each other again.
As of last year, police had identified 1,449 long-term missing persons who had been unaccounted for at least five years. Among them, 1,263 had been missing for more than 20 years, accounting for 87.2 percent of the total. Their families wait anxiously for news every single day. Many are now elderly, with little time left to see their loved ones again. Only the decision by missing persons themselves to search for their families, starting with DNA registration, can save these families.
banaffle@fnnews.com Reporter