His dad forcibly separated him from his mom in 1993. He cried like a baby when he found her after a 31-year search

It took 31 years, one TV segment, and a twist of timing for Filipino-Korean policeman Julius Manalo to finally reunite with his Korean mother, Oh Geum Nim. Their emotional meeting, aired on TV Chosun's Mom's Spring Day, spread across social media, showing a son running toward the woman he had been trying to find since he was six years old. Manalo was brought to the Philippines in 1993 by his father, who had told his mother they were going on a two-week vacation. But once they arrived in Manila, he revealed they wouldn't be returning.

"I was shocked when my dad admitted, 'You're not going back to Korea,'" Manalo recalled (roughly translated), as per Pep.ph, "All I could think was, what about my mom? Now I'm all alone here." Their life in Tondo was far from easy. Manalo said there was only one phone in their neighborhood that could make international calls, and they had more pressing concerns at the time. "Back then, our focus was just surviving day by day because life was so hard," he said. He helped his father earn what they could, scavenging for goods and doing odd jobs. Later, Manalo earned a basketball scholarship, and after college, Manalo joined the Philippine National Police. "I really wanted to help people. I wanted to be part of something bigger," he shared.

Even as he built his career, Manalo never stopped looking. The first time he had access to the internet in high school, he typed his mother's name and his cousin's, but information was scarce. When social media became popular, he posted in groups and reached out to store owners who had Korean contacts, but Korean privacy laws made the process difficult. The pandemic delayed things even further. Those long years of unanswered questions took an emotional toll. Manalo often spoke about the confusion, sadness, and isolation he felt growing up without knowing what had happened to his mother. It’s a reality many separated children face.

In fact, as per the Society for Research in Child Development, children distanced from their parents for extended periods often struggle with lasting emotional distress, including challenges with attachment, self-esteem, and mental health. It was his mother-in-law who encouraged him to reach out to TV Chosun. After they aired his story, a friend's mother happened to see the segment and contacted the network. "That's how my mom was found," Manalo said. When the TV show informed him they had located his mother, Manalo said he felt overwhelmed. "I told myself I wouldn't call anyone 'Mom' unless it was really her, face to face." When the day came, he ran toward her, shouting "Eomma!" and hugged her tightly. 

He had planned to travel to Korea with his wife and children to search in person, but now, he didn't need to. "At least now, she got to see me — this is my family, these are her grandkids, I have a stable job and another source of income. She can see all of it," he said. His mother apologized as they embraced, but Manalo reassured her. "Just the fact that you stayed alive—that's what I always prayed for." He said he saw the sadness she had carried for years. "We both suffered. But now, we're here." Manalo also shared the complete journey through a series of videos on his TikTok account, @julioenforcer.