N. Korea to propose family reunion this fall: report

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is expected to soon propose a reunion
event for families separated by the Korean War, posing a dilemma for South
Korea's conservative government, a progressive magazine published in Seoul
forecast Tuesday.
Family reunions between the two Koreas, set up after the first inter-Korean
summit in 2000, have been suspended since a round of mail exchanges took place in
February last year. The North has since cut off government-level talks and
refused to arrange the reunions to protest against South Korean 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 communist state.
The Minjok 21 magazine, quoting a source who recently traveled to North Korea,
reported in its latest issue that North Korea is considering proposing the
resumption of family reunions on the occasion of Chuseok, Korea's traditional
fall harvest holiday, which falls on Oct. 3 this year.
"There will be proposals from North Korea's Red Cross to its South Korean
counterpart for working-level talks on family reunions as time is needed for
preparations," Chung Chang-hyun, senior editor who wrote the story, quoted the
source as saying.
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.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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