The Decisive DNA That Reunited Mother and Daughter After 55 Years

A Woman in Her 50s Who Was Separated from Her Family at Age Two Reunites with Them

The police revealed the dramatic reunion of a mother and her youngest daughter who had been separated for 55 years through genetic analysis.

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 20th, citing the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, Ms. Lee (57), who had lost contact with her family, was reunited with her mother and older sister through DNA analysis. The mother, who was younger than her current daughter at the time of separation, has now become 91 years old.

Mother Lee's aunt (91) (second from the left in the front row) and family members are taking a commemorative photo after meeting the youngest daughter Lee (57) (fourth from the left in the front row) at the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul on the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News. Gangnam Police Station

Ms. Lee was entrusted to an acquaintance’s house in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, around November 1968 due to financial difficulties. Over time, as they moved, she grew up at a relative’s house of an acquaintance in the provinces, and it is reported that contact with her family was lost. During this process, it was confirmed that both Ms. Lee’s surname and resident registration number were changed.

The daughter, originally surnamed Hong, could not return to her family and her surname was changed to Lee, along with receiving a new resident registration number. As a result, the family lost even the knowledge of her survival. The family reunion after 55 years was made possible thanks to the “DNA Registration System” operated by the National Police Agency since 2004 to find long-term missing persons.

The daughter, Ms. Lee, belatedly learned about this system in March 2019 and registered her DNA at the Gangnam Police Station. At the same time, the mother, Ms. Lee, also registered her DNA at the Pohang Nambu Police Station in Gyeongbuk in May of this year. Using the analysis and comparison method of the National Forensic Service, they confirmed the mother-daughter relationship.

Upon seeing her daughter, the mother embraced her and shed tears. The mother repeatedly asked about her daughter’s well-being, saying, “I’m sorry. How have you been all this time?” The daughter also said, “I miraculously found my mother and family whom I had dreamed of even in my sleep.”

Meanwhile, the government has been holding commemorative ceremonies since 2007 on World Missing Children’s Day (May 25) to raise social responsibility and public interest in the early discovery of missing children.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and others, most missing children reported in the past five years were found and returned home within 12 months of the missing report. However, 1,366 children are still listed as long-term missing children for over a year. Among them, 1,044 have been missing for more than 20 years.