ZCZC
BFF-21
SKOREA-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY-FAMILY
Koreas discuss reunions for war-separated families
SEOUL, June 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – North and South Korea on Friday held Red
Cross talks to discuss resuming reunions for families separated by the 1950-
53 Korean War, the latest step in the diplomatic thaw on the peninsula.
Millions of people were separated during the conflict that sealed the
division between the two Koreas nearly 70 years ago.
Most died without having a chance to see or hear from their relatives on
the other side of the border, across which all civilian communication is
banned.
The resumption of the family reunions — last held in 2015 — was one of
the agreements reached between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the
South’s president Moon Jae-in at their landmark summit in April.
Only about 57,000 people registered with the South Korean Red Cross to meet
their separated relatives remain alive, most of them aged over 70.
Even if reunions are arranged, only 100 participants from each side will be
selected.
For the lucky few chosen to take part, the experience is often hugely
emotional, as they are given only three days to make up for decades of time
apart, followed by another separation at the end, in all likelihood
permanent.
“Let’s make the meeting a success by conducting it from a humanitarian
perspective,” said the South’s chief delegate Park Kyung-seo, as he began
discussions at North Korea’s scenic Mount Kumgang resort.
Pak Yong Il, Pyongyang’s chief delegate, responded: “The fact that the
North and South are holding the first Red Cross talks in our famous Mount
Kumgang is meaningful in itself.”
The reunion programme began in earnest after a historic inter-Korean summit
in 2000 and they were initially held annually, but strained cross-border
relations have made them rare.
Pyongyang has a lengthy track record of manipulating the divided families’
issue for political purposes, refusing proposals for regular reunions and
cancelling scheduled events at the last minute.
North Korea has previously demanded it will not agree to family reunions
unless Seoul returns several of its citizens, including a group of waitresses
who defected from a restaurant in China.
BSS/AFP/MR/1037 hrs