Seoul Seeking Regularization of Family Reunions

Since President Park Geun-hye instructed her cabinet on Mar. 4 to engage the North in talks to confirm whether the separated family members are still alive and to gain permission for exchanging letters, the government is expected to pick up the pace. On Mar. 1, Park called on the North to allow regular reunions, South Korea’s Hankyoreh reported.

Various efforts to resolve the issue of divided families have been made since the inter-Korean summit in 2000. Two reunions have taken place each year on average, 679 letters have been exchanged, and the fate of 55,412 individuals has been confirmed. In addition, a reunion center for the families was constructed at Mt. Keumgang resort in North Korea.

However, while exchange of this sort was aggressively pursued during the administrations of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, the frequency of reunions decreased with the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak, who ruled from 2008-2013. After the sinking of the Cheonan warship in 2010, the reunions were suspended altogether.

Park’s repeated comments about the divided families reflect just how urgent the issue is. According to the statistics provided by the Korean Red Cross, approximately 71,500 divided family members were still alive as of Jan. 2013. These individuals are extremely advanced in years, with 81% in their 70s or above. Over the next 10 years, 7,000 would need to attend the reunions each year.

Considering that only 170 families took part in the recent reunions, there will be a need not only for in-person meetings but also for letter exchange and video reunions. For these families, a simple confirmation of the fate of their relatives would be welcome, even if they are not able to meet them right away.

“It appears that we will be able to make a proposal to North Korea about the divided families as early as this week,” an official with South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on condition of anonymity. Based on this comment, there is a high likelihood that the proposal will be made after Mar. 6, the final day of the Key Resolve US-ROK joint military exercises, which North Korea has objected to.

“The important thing is not merely making the proposal but rather making it possible for North Korea to accept our proposal,” the same official said. “The government agencies involved are currently deliberating this issue with the Blue House.”

Also on the agenda could be resuming tours to Mt. Keumgang or providing the North with rice and fertilizer, which the North has previously requested - and received - in exchange for permitting divided family reunions. When Pyongyang accepted Seoul’s proposal for working-level talks about the divided families in Sep. 2013, it suggested holding similar talks about resuming tours to Mt. Keumgang.

Nevertheless, the South Korean government does not appear to favor providing the North with material compensation for holding the divided family reunions.

“Fundamentally, the divided family reunions are a humanitarian endeavor,” said one government official on condition of anonymity. “Our basic position is that no compensation will be made, including resuming tours to Mt. Keumgang.”

“The important thing is building trust between North and South Korea. We believe that providing the North with rice and fertilizer in exchange for holding the divided family reunions - as previous administrations have done - is not a way to build trust,” said another government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Even if tours to Mt. Keumgang and rice and fertilizer are not on the bargaining table, it would still be possible to discuss other political issues. During the meeting of high-level officials from North and South Korea that took place in mid-February, Seoul had a humanitarian agenda - the divided families - while North Korea brought up a political issue - suspending slander and criticism. Given that both North and South have been largely working to improve relations this year - as opposed to last year - anything is possible.

“There are no negotiations without some give and takes,” said Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University. “Once again, North and South will try to use negotiations to voice and listen to each other’s areas of interest. The current administration is probably taking this into its calculations.”