A Korean War Refugee Finally 'Returns Home' Using VR After 70 Years Of Not Going Home

Virtual recreation to a traditional market that Hyun Mi used to frequent as a child. (South Korean Ministry of Unification via CNN).

JAKARTA - It has been 70 years since Hyun Mi, then 13, fled fighting on the Korean peninsula during the Korean War in the 1950s. At that time Hyun Mi ran away with her parents and five siblings.

Since then Hyun Mi and her family have been in South Korea. He never saw relatives again and saw the house or location where he lived as a child. What happened to Hyun Mi was also experienced by thousands of North Koreans at that time.

"I thought it would be a week, but it became 70 years. Many women from North Korea stayed behind, while men and children fled to avoid being killed by the Chinese soldiers," recalled Hyun Mi as reported by CNN, Monday, January 4.

Angan Hyun Mi to be able to gather with family and return to the house where they lived had appeared when the war subsided and there was a peace agreement between the two Koreas. Unfortunately, post-peace, North and South Korea create a strict and nearly impenetrable border.

As a result, many families in North Korea have been separated for decades. The policy of allowing selected families to meet and conduct brief reunions is not a solution to reuniting separated families.

The results of a 3D image of conditions in Pyongyang in the past based on Hyun Mi's memory. (South Korean Ministry of Unification via CNN)

VR technology

Starting from the experience of Hyun Mi, who is a famous singer in Ginseng Country, the Ministry of Unification of South Korea, through the South Korean Red Cross, created a project that "reconnects" refugees with their hometowns.

Cooperating with a virtual reality (VR) company, Tekton Space, based in Seoul, the South Korean Red Cross has successfully created a VR experience for North Korean refugees. Hyun Mi is the first refugee to go on a virtual tour of her hometown.

"I made it to North Korea and felt like I couldn't stop crying," said Hyun Mi.

Chief Executive of Tekton Space Ahn Hyo-jin said, his company interviewed Hyun Mi to remember beautiful moments from her childhood. A designer made a sketch that he described, which Hyun Mi then matched before turning it into a three-dimensional (3D) design.

"There are a lot of refugees in Korea and all of them want to visit their hometowns but can't because of the circumstances. It is not easy to recreate closed places in North Korea," Ahn said.

Ahn hopes Hyun Mi's experience is a good start to realizing the dreams of other North Korean refugees. Although there is no official data, the South Korean Unification Ministry records 133 thousand refugees who have registered to meet their families since 1988.

The South Korean Unification Ministry also seems serious about developing this project, by creating a regional model for other North Korean refugees. although, it is also impossible to create a message project according to the wishes of every refugee.