Third family reunion planned within year

The South Korean government and the Korea National Red Cross plan to organize, in consultation with North Korea, a third round of exchange visits of families divided between the two Koreas by the end of the year. The exchanges have been postponed as a result of the delayed second round of family reunions.

Unification Ministry officials here said Sunday the inter-Korean agreement that set Dec. 5-7 as the date for the third reunion is still valid. They added however, that both sides are busy preparing for the upcoming fourth ministerial talks and the lists of family members eligible to meet their long-lost relatives have yet to be exchanged unlike the previous occasion, when they were delivered 30 days before the visits. Thus, it is inevitable that the date will be put off, they said.

Since the three rounds of family reunions originally slated to take place by the end of the year were personally promised by North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Il the officials said the Seoul government will continue to pursue them. In the meanwhile, of the names of 200 candidates for the exchanges sent by North Korea Friday, 159 have been identified and located with little difficulty as of Sunday evening.

The results of the effort to account for the 200 persons on the roster will be passed on to the North Korean authorities by Nov. 10 and 100 will be chosen for visits to North Korea. Pyongyang will issue guarantees of safe conduct for those chosen by Nov. 18. These procedures will be followed reciprocally by the two Koreas.

The manner in which the second group of visitors from the North will meet their relatives here will be similar to that employed during the first group¡¯s trips, but in order to curtail expenses, the 3-day 4-night stay will be shortened to 2 nights and 3 days and the accommodations of their relatives from the South will not be paid.

Ha Tae-Won scooop@donga.com