Reunion of separated families tops
agenda for Korean ministers' talks
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
Talks between North Korea and South Korea began Friday at the North’s Mount
Kumgang resort, and South Korean officials said the most pressing issue is rescheduling a
canceled reunion of families separated by the Korean War.
Hong Soon-young, Seoul’s Unification minister, also hopes to meet with North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il during the four-day talks. A ministry spokesman said Hong will
urge Kim to visit Seoul, which the South Korean government believes is essential in
reconciling the two nations.
This is the sixth ministerial-level conference between the two Koreas since last
year’s Inter-Korea Summit.
The South’s delegation arrived Tuesday at the resort by ship. The resort is just
north of the eastern end of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas.
The family reunion that tops Seoul’s agenda was to have been held in mid-October.
North Korean officials canceled the reunion, however, saying a high military alert in the
South after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S. made it too dangerous to send North
Korean citizens to the South.
Seoul stated the alert was to guard against international terrorism and had nothing to
do with South-North relations.
Three reunions of 100 people from each country have been held since June 2000. Sixteen
of the South Koreans who were to have participated in the October reunion have died since
it was canceled, South Korean officials said.
Bae Gi-chul contributed to this report.
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