Long-lost woman reunited with daughter after 40 years

This photo distributed by Jungbu Police Station in Daejeon shows a 71-year-old woman (right) and her daughter, 48. The two have been reunited after 40 years.

A 71-year-old woman has been reunited with her daughter with the help of the police, 40 years after she ran away from home due to the domestic violence of her husband.

Daejeon police on July 29 were investigating the woman related to an argument that had occurred between her and a customer in the small corner store she had been managing, according to the Jungbu Police Station in Daejeon. Investigators found that she had been registered as deceased for decades, after going missing in 1984.

Back then, the woman had been living with her now-deceased husband in Seoul and their two daughters, but had run away due to repeated domestic violence committed by her husband. The husband then traveled the country looking for his wife, but died in an accident five years after she went missing.

The two daughters, who were eight and six when her mother left, were raised by their aunts. They reported their mother missing 10 years later in 1994, and the woman was proclaimed "deceased" by a court five years thereafter.

Article 28 of South Korea's Civic Act states that a person is presumed deceased when their survival remains unknown five years after being reported missing.

According to the police, the woman had made attempts to visit her old home to see her daughters, but had turned back due to fear and trauma over her husband's assaults. She remained unregistered after accidentally learning several years later that she had been declared legally dead.

However, the woman kept a parenting journal of her children, which was the only belonging she had taken with her when she ran away. The woman also remembered her older daughter's resident registration number, which was what the police used to track her down.

The police notified the elder daughter, now 48, of her mother's whereabouts, and she agreed to meet her mother.

"I never blamed mom in the slightest, and am so glad to finally see her again. I could not believe it when I heard that I'd be able to meet her," the daughter has been quoted as saying, in what was said to be a tearful reunion.

Daejeon police said the now 71-year-old woman had been unable to receive any form of basic social welfare benefits on account of having been proclaimed dead and living unregistered for 40 years. It vowed to help her recover her legal identity, and aid her in receiving emergency living and housing expenses support.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)