ID :
201811
Wed, 08/17/2011 - 09:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/201811
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea says it has no plan to propose holding family reunions with N. Korea
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Wednesday it has no plan to propose to North Korea that family members separated by the Korean War six decades ago be temporarily united on the occasion of the upcoming Chuseok holiday.
The two Koreas held more than a dozen rounds of reunions since a landmark summit in 2000 to bring together tens of thousands of family members whom have not seen each other since the war.
The two sides have usually staged the reunions around Chuseok, the Korea Thanksgiving holiday that is celebrated in both countries, and other important national holidays.
"The family reunions are a humanitarian issue that must be resolved as a top priority, though we are neither reviewing nor pushing for a reunion on the occasion of Chuseok," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters.
The comment came hours after Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, called for inter-Korean cooperation to set the stage for family reunions during Chuseok, which falls on Sept. 12.
Seoul's move came as Pyongyang is considering arranging a reunion of Korean-Americans with their North Korean family members in a rare goodwill gesture toward Washington.
Millions of Koreans have been separated from their family members since the war, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. More than 21,000 have been reunited either face-to-face or via video since the 2000 summit.
There are no direct means of contact between the civilians of the two countries that remain divided by a heavily fortified border.
Top nuclear envoys of the two Koreas met on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Indonesia last month that paved the way for rare talks in New York between North Korea and the U.S.
In another positive development, South Korea is preparing to send emergency relief supplies worth 5 billion won (US$4.7 million) to North Korea to help it recover from the recent devastating floods.
Still, tensions persist between the two Koreas over Pyongyang's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 South Koreans. The North has refused to take responsibility for the attacks.
The two Koreas held more than a dozen rounds of reunions since a landmark summit in 2000 to bring together tens of thousands of family members whom have not seen each other since the war.
The two sides have usually staged the reunions around Chuseok, the Korea Thanksgiving holiday that is celebrated in both countries, and other important national holidays.
"The family reunions are a humanitarian issue that must be resolved as a top priority, though we are neither reviewing nor pushing for a reunion on the occasion of Chuseok," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters.
The comment came hours after Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, called for inter-Korean cooperation to set the stage for family reunions during Chuseok, which falls on Sept. 12.
Seoul's move came as Pyongyang is considering arranging a reunion of Korean-Americans with their North Korean family members in a rare goodwill gesture toward Washington.
Millions of Koreans have been separated from their family members since the war, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. More than 21,000 have been reunited either face-to-face or via video since the 2000 summit.
There are no direct means of contact between the civilians of the two countries that remain divided by a heavily fortified border.
Top nuclear envoys of the two Koreas met on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Indonesia last month that paved the way for rare talks in New York between North Korea and the U.S.
In another positive development, South Korea is preparing to send emergency relief supplies worth 5 billion won (US$4.7 million) to North Korea to help it recover from the recent devastating floods.
Still, tensions persist between the two Koreas over Pyongyang's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 South Koreans. The North has refused to take responsibility for the attacks.
