"Man Weeping Loudly on Street" Not Ignored… Reunited With Family After 30 Years

A man in his 50s experiencing homelessness, who was crying on the street due to the relentless heat wave, has been reunited with his family after 30 years with the help of the police.

According to the Seongnam Jungwon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, at around 7:36 AM yesterday (August 6), a 112 report was received from a passerby stating, "A man is crying loudly" on a street in Hadewon-dong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam.

At the time, a heat wave warning had been in effect in the Seongnam area since two days prior, and sweltering heat had persisted from early morning.

Police Officer Son Sung-wook (35) of the Dochon Precinct, who was dispatched to the scene, brought Mr. A, a homeless man in his 50s, back to the precinct.

When Officer Son asked about his situation, Mr. A confessed, "It was so difficult and heartbreaking to live on the streets in this hot weather, which is why I was crying."

Officer Son handed him a wet towel to help lower his body temperature while continuing to talk with him to ensure he did not lose consciousness.

During this process, Mr. A's story came to light.

Mr. A stated that he cut off contact with his family and left his hometown of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, about 30 years ago, and has been living on the streets in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, for the past six years.

He explained that suffering from congenital polio, he left his hometown because he did not want to impose a financial burden, such as medical expenses, on his family.

Upon hearing the story, Officer Son checked the record of a missing person report previously filed by Mr. A's older brother, a man in his 60s named Mr. B, and secured his contact information.

At first, Mr. A strongly refused to contact his brother, worried that he would be a burden to his family.

However, after Officer Son persuaded him for about an hour, he finally agreed to make contact.

Upon receiving the call from the police, the older brother immediately departed from Yeosu and arrived at the precinct where his younger brother was within five hours.

Embracing his younger brother after some 30 years, Mr. B shed tears and expressed his gratitude to the police, saying, "I will take my brother back to Yeosu and take good care of him."

A police official stated, "We will continue to do our best to carefully look after and assist citizens experiencing difficulties due to the scorching heat."

(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.