Red Cross mulls gene bank for separated families

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Red Cross said Wednesday that it will
push to set up a gene bank for senior citizens who have separated families living
in North Korea.
Kim Young-chul, secretary general of the Korea National Red Cross (KNRC), said
that his agency has been in discussions with the Unification Ministry on
establishing the so-called "separated family gene bank" for humanitarian
purposes.
The genetic data would allow for the chronicling and verification of separated
families in the future and allow their posthumous reunion.
Kim also said the KNRC and the government will also consider helping aging
members of the separated families in South Korea make "video wills" to deliver
their farewell message to their separated families in North Korea.
According to government data, nearly 130,000 South Korean people have family
members and relatives living in North Korea since their separation during the
1950-53 Korean War.
The Koreas have held 16 rounds of face-to-face family reunions since the first
summit between their leaders in June 2000. Only 16,212 Koreans from separated
families have been allowed to meet their loved ones face-to-face and about 3,748
others, mostly too old and weak to travel, have been reunited through real-time
video links under a program launched in August 2005. More than 90,000 South
Koreans are on a waiting list for their turn to be reunited with their northern
relatives.
North Korea cut off government-level talks and refused to arrange the reunions to
protest Seoul's conservative President Lee Myung-bak, who adopted a tougher
stance on Pyongyang's nuclear program and ended South Korea's free flow of aid to
the North.
"With more than 5,000 separated family members having died just last year, we
decided to seek the gene bank plan," Kim said.
A Unification Ministry official also said,"Direct reunions and exchanges of
letters should be given the top priority. But under the current circumstances, a
gene database bank or video wills should be considered."
Meanwhile, the KNRC secretary general suggested that the projects will require
donations from the private sector as Seoul's budget for separated families are
currently limited only to reunion events.
KNRC estimated that the procurement process for genetic information of 5,000
people can cost up to 1 billion won (US$809,000). Legal issues concerning the
collection of private information are also areas that must be sorted out.
"We're hoping to win sponsorship from the private sector for future projects
concerning the aged family members," Kim said.
Officials at the Unification Ministry said they have been contacted by the KNRC
and plan to conduct a feasibility study on the gene database project in the
future.
South Korea's government budget for 2009 is set at 284.5 trillion won, with its
North Korea-related expenditure estimated to reach about 1 trillion won,
according to government officials in Seoul.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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