Lupa Kata Sandi? Klik di Sini

atau Masuk melalui

Belum Memiliki Akun Daftar di Sini


atau Daftar melalui

Sudah Memiliki Akun Masuk di Sini

Konfirmasi Email

Kami telah mengirimkan link aktivasi melalui email ke rudihamdani@gmail.com.

Klik link aktivasi dan dapatkan akses membaca 2 artikel gratis non Laput di koran dan Majalah Tempo

Jika Anda tidak menerima email,
Kirimkan Lagi Sekarang

North, South Korea Discuss Reunion Meetings for Divided Families

Translator

Editor

22 June 2018 12:24 WIB

North and South Korea intensify dialogue

TEMPO.CO, Seoul - Delegations from North and South Korea met on Friday, June 22, for talks to arrange the first reunions in about three years for families separated by the Korean War, with the Red Cross paving the way.


The effort is among the steps promised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in to improve relations that had deteriorated over the North's nuclear and missile programmes.

Friday's meeting, which began at 01:00 GMT in a hotel in North Korea's tourist destination of Mount Kumgang, comes after the two sides agreed in April to pursue a reunion to mark a common national holiday in August.

"We should make active efforts for good results today by trusting and being considerate of each other," said Pak Yong Il, the leader of the North's delegation.

"We should also part with the past and go down the road our leaders have forged for us," added Pak, the deputy head of the North's agency to promote reunification, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

South Korean officials have called for the visits between separated families to resume as a "humanitarian and human rights issue", especially since many individuals are now in their 80s.

Past reunions, some televised, have often unleashed floods of tears, with face-to-face encounters ending in painful separations. The last reunions were held in 2015.

The South has also sought to resume video conferences and the delivery of letters among families divided by the border.

Read: Leaders of Two Koreas Meet at Historical Summit

Since 2000, about 23,676 separated Koreans, from both North and South, have met or interacted through videolink as part of the programme, the Hyundai Research Institute thinktank said.

By March, 56 percent of the South's 131,531 applicants for such reunions had died, it added.

It was unclear if Pyongyang had dropped a condition it had previously set for resuming the reunions, that Seoul return 12 North Korean women who worked at a North Korea-run restaurant in China and defected to South Korea as a group in 2016.

Several of the women said in May they were coerced into leaving, while South Korean officials said they were trying to verify their accounts.

As recently as May the North Korean Red Cross organization urged South Korea to return the women "without delay".

South Korean representatives to the Red Cross talks left on Thursday for the South's eastern border town of Goseong and set out for the meeting venue in North Korea early on Friday.

"We'll have good discussions on humanitarian issues with North Korea and how we'll assuage the pain of the 57,000 family members separated," Park Kyung-seo, the Korean Red Cross president in Seoul who heads the South's delegation, said on Thursday.

Ties have warmed as relations between North Korea and the United States have improved after Kim met U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore last week in the two nations' first summit.

The 1950-53 Korean War was concluded only with a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the combatants technically still at war. 

REUTERS



Pyongyang Declares 'State of War' with South Korea  

19 Oktober 2018

Pyongyang Declares 'State of War' with South Korea  

North Korea's news agency KCNA reported the has declared it has entered a "state
of war" with South Korea.


North Korea Shuts Access to Kaesong

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Shuts Access to Kaesong

North Korea has banned South Korean workers from crossing the border to
Kaesong industrial park, a commercial zone jointly managed by the two Koreas.


Govt: No Evacuation from North Korea Yet

19 Oktober 2018

Govt: No Evacuation from North Korea Yet

The government has not decided to evacuate Indonesians living in North Korea.


North Korea Wants Foreigners out of the South

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Wants Foreigners out of the South

North Korea warns foreigners in South Korea to evacuate as the peninsula is on the
brink of war.


US Ready to Discuss Nuclear with North Korea

19 Oktober 2018

US Ready to Discuss Nuclear with North Korea

United States Secretary of the State John Kerry


North Korea Threatened to Attack Without Warning

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Threatened to Attack Without Warning

North Korea claimed that an attack will be launched as a
retaliation to a rally against North Korea held in Seoul, South
Korea


North Korea Mobilize More Launchers

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Mobilize More Launchers

April 25, 2013, was said to be the date when North Korea will
launch its missile.


North Korea Relocates Missiles, Ending Global Concern?

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Relocates Missiles, Ending Global Concern?

North Korea finally remove two Musudan missiles from their
launch site, remarking a new stage after weeks of global concern


North Korea Condemns US-South Korea Joint Naval Exercise

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Condemns US-South Korea Joint Naval Exercise

North Korea condemned the arrival of United States nuclear
powered aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz, in South Korea for joint
exercise.


North Korea Launches Short Range Missiles

19 Oktober 2018

North Korea Launches Short Range Missiles

North Korea has launched short range missiles into the sea off
the Korean Peninsula's east coast.