Hopes to See Sa-rang and Ji-hye Face Each Other in Smile

Four-month-old Siamese Korean twin girls, named Min Sa-rang and Ji-hye had separation surgery at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore yesterday in the afternoon.

The Child Protection Fund, which has supported the conjured twins, announced yesterday, “Min Seung-jun (34), father of the twin sisters, called in the morning yesterday and told us that the twin babies were put under anesthesia around noon that day (local time) and the operation began at 2 p.m.”

Reportedly, the operation lasted eight to nine hours, but the result has not been known yet.

According to the Fund, Min said before, “Medical team was optimistic about the result of the surgery since the twin sisters were connected by spines and anuses, which offered relatively less challenging operation.”

“A secondary operation will be necessary since the anuses of the twins are too small and not normal”, said Dr. K., in charge of the surgery at the Singaporean hospital. He is also known to say “A third operation is required before they turn 10 since their sexual organs are attached to each other.”

The Raffles Hospital in Singapore is known as a place where the Siamese adult twin sisters from Iran once ware hospitalized. Their death during separation operation delivered sad news around the world.

Min and his wife used to run PC rooms in Singil-dong, Seoul before selling their property and borrowing extra money for the operation of the twin daughters. The medical fees for their twin daughters have partly come from those who run PC rooms and Daum online community members.

Nevertheless, the sisters` additional operations for separation and follow-up treatment for rehabilitation would cost hundreds of millions won, estimated the Fund. It is known that yesterday`s operation alone cost 100 million won.

As of a.m. July 22, the Child Protection Fund (Tel:02-332-5242) has collected donation of 9.19 million won by money deposit/transfer and 2.32 million won from online transactions such as with credit card payment or mobile banking.

A member of the Fund asked for more donation and support for the twin sisters, saying, “Despite many sympathizers, the family is facing hardships from the lack of supportive fund.”

Sa-rang and Ji-hye were born on March 4 this year, 36 weeks after conception. Weighed 3.5kg together, the sisters were born conjoined around the hips and therefore, could not face each other.

On the day, the website of the Fund was inundated with cheering letters of netizens. An Internet café at (http://cafe.daum.net/loveinwisdom), over 70 letters were posted before noon.

A netizen, nicknamed as “Girangigyo, meaning sweet and noble friendship” wished for successful operation for the twin sisters writing “Wish you know there are so many people who are praying for you. ”

Jin Lee leej@donga.com