MEASURES TO REUNITE SEPARATED FAMILIES

[Anchor Lead]

Parents' Day is just around the corner but people whose hometowns are in North Korea cannot visit them to reunite with their loved ones. Many in South Korea and the U.S. are calling for measures to help these people meet with their long-lost kin as soon as possible.

[Pkg]

Abai Village is home to people whose hometowns are in North Korea. Very few of its first-generation residents are still alive.

[Soundbite] Lee Mi-sook(Second-generation N. Korean) : "My mother, father and father-in-law are from North Korea. My father and father-in-law have already passed away."

Of some 130,000 people who had applied for family reunions more than 80,000 have already passed away, and most of those who are still alive are over 80 years old.

[Soundbite] Kim Chun-sung(N. Korean from Sinpo): "I just hope that my mother will be alive until we see each other again so that I　can pour my heart out to her."

[Soundbite] Lee Chun-seom(N. Korean from Pukchong) : "It breaks my heart to think that I have left my grandparents back in my hometown."

Only some 13,000 people have reunited with their loved ones in North Korea through family reunions. No such events have been held since 2018.

[Soundbite] Kim Eul-soon(Reunited with older brother from N. Korea in 2002) : "I've been able to live long because I couldn't see my brother. I'm waiting till we can reunite. It's devastating."

Seoul is pushing for reunions via video link due to the pandemic.

[Soundbite] Lee In-young(Minister of Unification) : "We have finished preparations for holding video reunions so separated families can get in touch for about 40 minutes a day."

Many in the U.S. are calling for measures to help separated families get in touch with their long-lost kin. Some 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently separated from their relatives in North Korea. Choi Kwang-chul, a second-generation North Korean who also heads a civic group in LA, says family reunions must be held for humanitarian purposes aside from politics.

[Soundbite] Choi Kwang-chul(Head, Korean American Public Action Committee) : "It's the issue of human rights and humanitarianism, which are highly valued in the U.S. How can we let people know nothing about their loved ones 70 years after the national division?"

So far several bills and resolutions on separated family reunions have been submitted to the U.S. Congress in hopes to finally help families separated for decades reunite.