North and South Will Set Up 2 Permanent Places for Family Reunion

North and South Korea agreed basically to establishment of two meeting places of family reunion for the divided. According to their agreement, one permanent meeting place is to be set up in Mt. Kum Kang, and another, upon discussion and mutual consent therefrom, will be in the western part of South after the completion of Kyung-Ui Line and roads.

The two also agreed to cooperate in finding the whereabouts of the “people missing during the Korean War.”

This is in essence related to the confirmation of the Korean solders and civilians captured by North during the war. One government official commented, “So far, North Korea has denied the existence itself of captured solders. But this time, North agrees to discuss the matter through the Red Cross.”

These decisions were announced in an agreement on 6 issues made at the September 8th 4th Red Cross meeting between the heads of North and South Red Cross, Jang Jae-un and Suh Young-hoon, respectively.

The agreement on establishment of a permanent meeting place is considered the best achievement of this talk. South has persistently pursued the matter in order to regularize the family reunions. But the agreement will not be put into effect until the meeting place in Mt. Kum Kang is completely constructed. Thus, it will not be realized in the near future.

The Kum Kang meeting place is to be jointly constructed with South chipping in material and equipment and North workers. North and South will hold a working-level talk in the middle of next month at Mt. Kum Kang to discuss the details of implementing the agreement such as matters concerning the operation of the place.

North and South also confirmed that they would hold the 5th family reunion as scheduled. Thus, the reunion will be held at Mt. Kum Kang from Sep. 13 to 18th.

South delegation came back to Seoul on September 8th, after 3 days’ talk, leaving Jang Jun Port in North onboard Sul Bong.

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com