Lotte World set to reunite families with time capsules frozen for 20 years

Lotte World Adventure, one of South Korea's most visited theme parks, announced Tuesday its plan to reunite two-decade-old frozen memories from time capsules kept under its ice rink with their rightful owners.

In June 2004, the theme park in central Seoul invited 50 guests to participate in an event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the ice rink. Guests tucked messages and family photos into 13-centimeter capsules, which were then buried beneath the ice as part of the rink's thawing and refreezing process to improve ice quality.

The time capsules were actually retrieved in July 2021, according to theme park officials, when the ice rink underwent another renewal process. However, they held off on opening the capsules until this month for the perfect moment.

The encased messages hold the hopes and dreams of the participants from 20 years ago. Examples include one message to an infant daughter yearning for the day she blossoms into a college student, another from a writer pondering if their lifelong dream has come true after all these years. One message revealed the expectation of a couple traveling the globe in their golden years.

Lotte World Adventure officials stated they plan to return the capsules along with gifts, hopeful of locating the owners through personal information such as phone numbers and home addresses. The process will be shared on the theme park's social media accounts from Friday, the officials said.

"We’d love to express our gratitude to our park visitors, whose presence enables us to celebrate the 35th anniversary of our founding," an official said, adding that they will continue striving to provide pleasant memories for customers.