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Simona Botviciute,

Correspondent (Asia: Far East)

 

SEOUL — Pyongyang has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to hold talks on resuming reunions of families separated by the Korean War. Families who were torn apart due to living in two different countries after the 1950–1953 war will soon have a chance to meet again. The latest statement about highly anticipated Korean family reunions, last held in 2010, came from the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea: “The reunion of separated families and their relatives shall be made in Mt Kumgang resort on the occasion of the upcoming Harvest Moon Day.”

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye called for the resumption of the family reunions earlier this month, along with an agreement to reopen a joint industrial plant. This agreement and proposed talks are hoped to improve ties between the rivals and ease the tension in the Korean Peninsula.

320px-Map_of_korea_enThe 1945 division of the Korean Peninsula is one of the last remaining reminders of the Cold War. Ever since the end of the Korean War there has been virtually no contact between the citizens of two countries which makes it more than 60 years of separation. Even nowadays most of the families do not know the fate of their relatives on the other side of the border and for the first generation of divided families time is running out as many pass away before getting opportunity to see their siblings.

The very first historic reunion happened on August 15, 2000. Since then till 2010 a several more meetings were organised and about 2000 members of divided families were able to reunite. However, not everyone is lucky enough to get this opportunity — numbers circulated by the South Korean Red Cross claimed over 7.2 million of divided family members back in 1991. By 2001 about 11 per cent of these people had passed away proving the growing need of speedier reunions.

Another key issue is the process of these reunions. Of course it is a highly emotional occasion but sometimes it can prove to be quite traumatic: like a man seeing his daughter for the first time in Pyongyang after she greeted him with a formal bow and question “Father, why have you come?”, the ideological differences affect the reunions too. In addition, these few hour meetings have a huge lack of privacy, usually due to the constant media spotlight. After it is over most of the families find themselves realising that it is the last time they have seen their loved ones.

Nonetheless, the Red Cross officials are ready for talks in order to prepare for the upcoming latest reunion of Korean families. In exchange Pongyang proposed talks on lucrative tours of Diamond Mountain which were suspended back in 2008 when South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean border guard. These decisions come handy in easing the tensions between South and North, even though technically they are still at war as there was no treaty signed. But most importantly, a few lucky ones may get a chance to embrace their loved ones for the very last time in a bittersweet reunion.

Image Courtesy: David Eerdmans (Wiki Commons) Released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Image Courtesy: Yonghokim (Wiki Commons) Released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

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Simona Botviciute

Simona Botviciute

Simona is the Editor of Asia – Far East section of The Global Panorama. She is continuously studying in School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. She enjoys both news writing and editorial type of work regarding any cultural or political aspect of Asian countries. Being a passionate music lover she is also a contributor to the Music section of the website.