South Korea proposes new talks with North on family reunions

ALJAZEERA:

South Korea has proposed talks with North Korea to discuss how to help the thousands of families who were separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, in its latest direct overture to Pyongyang since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se extended the invitation to dialogue on the eve of Chuseok, one of the biggest holidays for Koreans on both sides of the border, describing the separation of families as part of a “painful reality”.

Seoul is willing to consider Pyongyang’s preferences in deciding the date, venue, agenda and format of the talks, he said.

“We hope that responsible officials of the two sides will meet in person as soon as possible for a candid discussion on humanitarian matters including the issue of separated families,” Kwon said.

Families were torn apart in 1953, when an armistice brought the fighting in the Korean War to an end but left North and South still technically at war and the peninsula split by the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and heavily-fortified border.

All direct civilian exchanges, even a simple visit to a mother, brother, father or sister, were banned.