Unification minister proposes talks with North on war-torn families

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Thursday proposed talks with Pyongyang to resolve the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Employees at the Red Cross committee headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul hold video messages recorded by South Koreans for their North Korean relatives on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Thursday proposed talks with Pyongyang to resolve the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Speaking at the Central Government Complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, Kwon issued a statement urging inter-Korean dialogue on the eve of the four-day-long Chuseok holiday, which is celebrated on both sides of the divided peninsula.

Koreans traditionally visit family during Chuseok as well as during Seollal, the lunar new year holiday that falls in January or February.

In the past, Seoul and Pyongyang have organized reunions during the Chuseok holiday for families separated by the division of the peninsula and the war. The reunions are usually organized by the two countries' respective Red Cross committees.

The two Koreas have held 21 rounds of in-person family reunions since the historic 2000 summit between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

But no physical meeting of separated family members has taken place since 2018, when 89 elderly separated family members accompanied by 197 younger relatives and helpers from the South met with 185 North Korean relatives at Mount Kumgang resort in the North.

According to the Unification Ministry, nearly 70 percent of 133,391 first-generation divided family members who registered for the reunion program with the South Korean Red Cross have passed away while waiting to be reunited with their relatives in the North.

Only 20,604 South Koreans have met their North Korean relatives through the 21 reunions held to date.

At Thursday’s press briefing, the unification minister said about 400 people died this past month alone without seeing their kin, leaving just 40,000 people in their 80s and 90s.

Pointing to the urgency of the issue, Kwon called for a fundamental resolution, hinting at the inadequacy of the family reunion program, without specifying what such resolution could entail.

“Holding a one-off reunion with a small number of people as in the past is not enough,” Kwon said.

“[We] must resolve the problem before the word of ‘separated family’ disappears,” he added while urging Seoul and Pyongyang to “map out swift and fundamental measures, using all available methods.”

Although family reunions are highly emotional events, they have also been criticized for occurring under heavy political scrutiny.

While South Korea uses a computerized lottery system to pick participants, North Korea is suspected of selecting citizens based on their political loyalty.

The reunions are likely limited in size and frequency by Pyongyang’s reluctance to expand contact between North Koreans and more affluent South Koreans.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]