The heavily curated reunions will be the first in three years as tensions slow following the Singapore peace summit and increased dialogue between the two…
The heavily curated reunions will be the first in three years as tensions slow following the Singapore peace summit and increased dialogue between the two Koreas.
The respective leadership of both North and South Korea have finally agreed to another round of family reunions, the BBC reports. After millions of families were divided by the Korean War conflict that spanned the years 1950 to 1953, several bouts of small reunion events have taken place.
Negotiations took place between South Korean delegation leader Park Kyung-seo of the Korean Red Cross, and North Korean delegation leader Pak Yong-il, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country. The discussions were held at a hotel in North Korean tourist destination Mount Kumgang. Both men emerged from their meeting with a joint statement declaring that the reunion event would go forward, hoping to break new ground between the two countries.
“We should also part with the past and go down the road our leaders have forged for us,” Pak Yong-il said.
A contentious note between the two countries and their diplomatic attaches remains at issue; a group of 12 North Korean women whom defected to South Korea via their employment in China are central to the dispute. North Korea wants the women returned, South Korea is investigating claims that some of the women were pressured into their defection expressly against their will.
