South, North agree to open reunion center next month

South and North Korea have agreed to set up reunion centers and regularize exchange visits between separated families, a high-ranking government official said on Friday. The official said that North Korea indicated a reunion point would be established if the South keeps its promise to repatriate former Communist spies to the North on September 2. The official added that a second round of inter-Korean Red Cross talks will be held in the second week of September to discuss the details of the project. The official said that the reunion center will top the agenda for the upcoming talks, and as the two sides have agreed on the issue in principle, the negotiations will focus on when and where the center will open.

Based on remarks made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during a meeting with South Korean media heads visiting the North, the government predicted separated family members would be able to visit their hometowns next year once the reunions are regularized. As for the site of the reunion center, the government said that it preferred the truce village of Panmunjom due to its convenient location. However, if Pyongyang insists on Mt. Kumgang in the North, the government would agree. The government admitted that Mt. Kumkang is the most probable site, and added that it will fully support families that cannot afford to travel to the resort area. The government has reportedly completed a feasibility study of the Mt. Kumgang area as the reunion center site.

Although trips to the scenic mountain range can cost up to 700,000 won per person, it will be a better place for families to get together and enjoy the hot springs, the official noted. He added that once the new route to Mt. Kumgang, which skirts the high seas by five miles, is open, the voyage can be made in a day. Perhaps the only technical problem remaining is how to clear the fishing nets in the area. As to the question of whether a second round of visits by separated families would take place before the Korean holiday of Chusok, he was pessimistic, pointing out how preparations for the recent visit took two months.