Chuseok reunion negotiations slated
Published: 26 Aug. 2009, 06:38
Red Cross officials from the two Koreas will sit down at a negotiation table today at the North’s Mount Kumgang resort to discuss plans to resume family reunions for October’s Chuseok holidays.
South Korea’s National Red Cross said yesterday that its North Korean counterpart has agreed to hold the three-day meeting, sending the message through the direct telephone line at the truce village of Panmunjom.
North Korea severed the communication channel last November, and the Red Cross talks were suspended in late 2007.
The meeting today will be the first of its kind since the launch of the Lee Myung-bak administration.
“The North sent the message about the Red Cross meeting at 9:47 a.m. through the direct Panmunjeom telephone channel,” said Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung. “We believe the direct line between the two Koreas’ Red Cross offices has been normalized.”
Pyongyang cut off the channel to protest Seoul’s participation in drafting UN sanctions against the North.
The telephone line had been briefly restored during the North Korean condolence visit to Seoul last week, but was cut again on Monday.
The two sides will discuss a plan to hold reunions for Chuseok, Korea’s Thanksgiving, between families separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War. This year, the holiday falls on the first weekend of October.
The reunion plan was agreed to by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun during their meeting in Pyongyang on Aug. 16. Following the agreement, the South’s Red Cross asked its North Korean counterpart to discuss reunion arrangements.
More than 20,000 family members separated during the war have been briefly reunited on over 16 occasions. The last face-to-face reunions took place in October 2007, days after the second inter-Korean summit between Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il.
According to the Unification Ministry, 127,408 individuals had applied for a reunion as of the end of July.
Chun said other inter-Korean issues will be discussed at the Red Cross talks.
By Ser Myo-ja [[email protected]]
South Korea’s National Red Cross said yesterday that its North Korean counterpart has agreed to hold the three-day meeting, sending the message through the direct telephone line at the truce village of Panmunjom.
North Korea severed the communication channel last November, and the Red Cross talks were suspended in late 2007.
The meeting today will be the first of its kind since the launch of the Lee Myung-bak administration.
“The North sent the message about the Red Cross meeting at 9:47 a.m. through the direct Panmunjeom telephone channel,” said Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung. “We believe the direct line between the two Koreas’ Red Cross offices has been normalized.”
Pyongyang cut off the channel to protest Seoul’s participation in drafting UN sanctions against the North.
The telephone line had been briefly restored during the North Korean condolence visit to Seoul last week, but was cut again on Monday.
The two sides will discuss a plan to hold reunions for Chuseok, Korea’s Thanksgiving, between families separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War. This year, the holiday falls on the first weekend of October.
The reunion plan was agreed to by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun during their meeting in Pyongyang on Aug. 16. Following the agreement, the South’s Red Cross asked its North Korean counterpart to discuss reunion arrangements.
More than 20,000 family members separated during the war have been briefly reunited on over 16 occasions. The last face-to-face reunions took place in October 2007, days after the second inter-Korean summit between Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il.
According to the Unification Ministry, 127,408 individuals had applied for a reunion as of the end of July.
Chun said other inter-Korean issues will be discussed at the Red Cross talks.
By Ser Myo-ja [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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