Seoul to propose inter-Korean Red Cross talks over family reunion

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to propose to North Korea later
Thursday that the two sides meet to arrange reunions of separated families,
following up on Pyongyang's recent pledge to restart the suspended humanitarian
contact, officials said.

North Korea agreed earlier this week that it will reopen the border for suspended
tourism ventures and reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
Seoul officials said they will first try to revive family reunions, suspended by
Pyongyang last year in protest at South Korea's hardline policy, as time is
running out for many aged reunion applicants.
"We are waiting for the official confirmation of a message to be sent to North
Korea. When that is confirmed by the Unification Ministry, (talks will be
proposed)," a Red Cross official said, requesting anonymity as the final
announcement should be made by the ministry.
The two Koreas set up family reunions through their Red Cross offices, a
tradition that began after the first historic inter-Korean summit in 2000. Some
16,000 Koreans have been able to meet with relatives across the border, while
close to 3,750 others, mostly too old and weak to travel, have been reunited
through real-time video links under a program launched in 2005.
After 16 rounds of face-to-face reunions and seven rounds of video meetings, the
event was halted after President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year.
The Red Cross official could not say what channel Seoul would use to send the
dialogue proposal. The inter-Korean Red Cross communication channel in the truce
village of Panmunjom was severed by North Korea in November as part of
retaliations against the Lee government.
In a rare conciliatory move, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Hyun Jeong-eun,
chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai Group, agreed to a series of steps to revive
inter-Korean exchanges that also include resuscitating Hyundai's tourism ventures
in North Korea's Mount Kumgang and the historic town of Kaesong.
Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort developed by Hyundai on North Korea's east coast,
is also a likely venue for the family reunions, as the Seoul government completed
a reunion house there in July last year.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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