1.Summary
Seventh Round Reunion of Separated Families Between South and North Korea
1. Summary
a. Between June 27 and July 2, 2003, a total of 899 families living in separation in South and North Korea were reunited at Mt. Geumgang in two batches.
In the first batch of reunions held on June 27-29, 110 family members (100 elderly people and 10 minders of the infirm) from the South met with their kin of 217 from the North. In the next batch of reunion on June 30-July 2, 100 from the North met with 472 family members from the South.
b. The separated families had a reunion time of 12 hours in six occasions by way of collective and individual meetings, a welcome dinner, a communal lunch, and a farewell meeting.
A total of 7,109 Koreans from both sides have had seven rounds of reunions through the exchange of separated families since the inter-Korean summit meeting in June 2000.
2. Significance
a. Despite a difficult inter-Korean situation stemming from the North Korean nuclear issue, the seventh round reunion of separated families was held smoothly. The seventh round reunion was one of the agreed points reached during the 10th inter-Korean ministerial talks.
It is expected that the latest round of reunion will have a positive impact on the resolution of the separated family problem and progress in the inter-Korean relations.
b. The highest authorities of the Red Crosses - president Suh Young-hoon of the South and his counterpart from the North, Jang Jae-eon - led their delegations.
They conveyed their respective positions on the implementation of the agreed points, including repatriation of the South Koreans abducted to the North and the South Korean prisoners of war held in the North, which were reached during the fourth inter-Korean Red Cross meeting, the construction of permanent reunion centers and the subsequent reunion program.
c. The seventh round reunion event marked the first "unbalanced reunion" in terms of the numbers of separated kin taking part: 110 from the South versus 100 from the North. Ten from the South were added to take care of their feeble family members.
Departing from the previous practice of equal number participants, the "unbalanced reunion" has provided a turning point for the solution of the problem stemming from the disparity in the reunion pools between the two Koreas.
d. A patient needing emergency care occurred among the South Korean visitors. The patient was rushed to the Gangneung Asan Hospital in Gangneung aboard a military helicopter from the ambulance that transported the patient to the South via the interim road along the Donghae Railway.
The incident became a good example of how the North and the South could cope with an emergency situation in the future as shown in the urgent evacuation of the patient.
