The reunions of families separated by the Korean War will take place from October 30 to November 5 at the reunion center and the Mt. Geumgang Hotel, both located at the Mt. Geumgang tourism resort in North Korea. South and North Korea came to the agreement during the third round of working-level Red Cross talks in the North’s border town of Gaeseong on October 1. The planned meetings, if held, will be the first such event in 13 months and the 18th family reunions between the two sides since 2000. One hundred family members from each side will be reunited with their long-lost kin across the border, as in previous reunions, although South Korea initially demanded that a larger number of separated families participate in the reunions. In fact, the two sides had failed to reach agreement at the first two rounds of talks, and many were interested in the backdrop for the dramatic agreement at the third negotiations. Here’s Hong Hyun-ik, a senior researcher from Sejong Institute, to explain.

South and North Korea were at odds about the venue of the family reunions. The South cited the reunion center at Mt. Geumgang, while the North insisted on some other place within the mountain area. During last week’s meeting, the South Korean delegation said that the venue wouldn’t necessarily be the reunion center but urged the North to pinpoint exactly where the reunions should be held instead. Then, the North agreed to hold this round of reunions at the reunion center, with no strings attached. It seems that even North Korea considered its previous claim to be unreasonable. It was North Korea that first proposed resuming the family reunions, and Pyongyang would be to blame if it failed to hold the event. With these political calculations in mind, North Korea appears to have made a concession.

Some say the South Korean side, too, showed flexibility, since the separated families issue is one of the top priority tasks that the government must address on humanitarian grounds. The Seoul government also maintains that the current temporary family reunions should be held on a larger scale and on a regular basis. To discuss this matter, South and North will hold Red Cross talks in Gaeseong on October 26th and the 27th. But the prospects for the talks are rather murky, so long as North Korea’s attitude remains unchanged.

From a humanitarian perspective, North Korea should respond to Seoul’s call positively. But the reclusive North is extremely wary of the possibility that its people will be exposed to a free democracy and the advanced South Korean economy through the family reunions. There is little wonder the autocratic regime has been highly negative and passive about regularizing the family reunions. It is likely that the North will request some compensational measures, such as rice or fertilizer aid, in return for regular reunions. But the controversy over blind, one-sided aid for North Korea poses a significant burden on the South Korean government. Given the circumstances, it will be rather hard for South and North Korea to come to an agreement on regular reunions during the Red Cross talks scheduled for late this month.

On top of the difficulty of holding family reunions regularly, the resumption of the Mt. Geumgang tour program remains as another factor that could influence the reunions. North Korea is in dire economic straits, suffering from food shortages and inadequate raw materials, energy and foreign currency. For the impoverished North, the Mt. Geumgang tour is an indispensable source of cash. North Korea also faces international sanctions and isolation, following its nuclear test last year and its torpedo attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan this year. To get out of its diplomatic and economic predicament, Pyongyang needs to improve relations with Seoul. To this end, it is inevitable to reopen the Mt. Geumgang tour business and agree on the family reunions. Against this backdrop, North Korea proposed on October 2 that officials from the two sides meet in Gaeseong on October 15 to discuss resumption of the tours. But the Seoul government is still considering the proposal.

The government stresses that the issues of family reunions and the resumption of the Mt. Geumgang tour are two separate matters. As three preconditions for restarting the tours, South Korea has called for a joint on-site investigation into the 2008 shooting death of a South Korean tourist named Park Wang-ja, a plan to prevent similar incidents and an institutional guarantee of tourist safety. The resumption of the tours, therefore, depends on how North Korea responds to the three preconditions. If the government keeps delaying answering the North’s proposal to hold authorities-level talks on October 15, the North may sing a different tune on the family reunions planned for late this month. It’s been more than two years since the tours were suspended, and the government does not want inter-Korean ties to go to extremes, hoping to break the prolonged deadlock in bilateral relations. Therefore, there is a possibility that South Korea may take a positive stance if North Korea shows a spark of sincerity.

Attention also swings to the potential influence of the family reunions on relations between the two Koreas. Experts predict that the reunions will help create a positive mood to some extent, but not so much as to thaw the chill in inter-Korean relations that have worsened in the wake of the Cheonan incident. Still, some take note of positive, conciliatory gestures taken by North Korea of late: North Korea proposed holding family reunions and inter-Korean military talks while accepting Seoul’s offer to provide flood aid. There are calls for the government to devise a proper North Korea policy to reflect the ongoing shift in Pyongyang’s foreign policy.

Amid North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s desperate effort to execute a third-generation power succession, it is highly likely that Pyongyang will make reconciliatory gestures toward the outside world by improving relations with South Korea and returning to the six-party nuclear talks. For the North Korean regime, however, hasty reforms and openness will increase the risk of letting North Korean people know about the advantages of a free democracy and a market economy. As a means of maintaining the communist regime, North Korea could continue to develop nuclear weapons while confronting South Korea, and depend more heavily on China while urging its people to rebuild the economy on their own. South Korea has every reason to punish the North for its military provocation on the Cheonan. But Seoul also needs to manage North Korea more proactively, in consideration of the future of a unified Korea and the possibility of a sudden collapse of North Korea.

Some point out that a policy focused on sanctions and pressure is not enough to handle North Korea. South Korea should engage in active dialogue with North Korea, when necessary, and formulate a more effective and reliable North Korea policy that will guarantee regional security.



[Interview] Defector-Turned-Counselor Helps N. Korean New Settlers Since I have little knowledge of medicine, it’s hard to figure out what problems the patient has and which department he or she has to go to. Many North Koreans are hot-tempered, and they won’t answer properly when I ask them what their problems are. Some even flare up in anger over the phone. In those moments I find my job difficult. But I’m a counselor who helps North Korean defectors at the National Medical Center. I believe my duty is to listen to their problems. My belief is ever the same.

This is Im Hyang, a counselor who provides consultation to North Korean defectors at the patient call center at the National Medical Center. As a North Korean defector herself, she resettled in South Korea in 2007. Im received counselor training for North Korean newcomers in 2009 and obtained the third-grade certificate. Since May this year, she has been working as a consultant for North Korean patients at this clinic. She had many difficulties at first, but she finds her work rewarding as she helps to ease the pain of others. The call center for North Korean patients was established in 2008 by the Organization for One Korea as part of efforts to help new North Korean settlers adjust to South Korean society quickly. Previously, the group mostly provided job counseling to newcomers, but it decided to offer medicine-related services to them since it would be more urgent to deal with their health problems.

Many North Korean defectors fell ill abroad after escaping their home country. Others already suffered from diseases in North Korea but failed to get proper treatment. The Organization for One Korea used to focus on helping the newcomers find jobs. However, the organization discovered their health conditions were more serious than expected, and it set up the call center at the National Medical Center to offer medical counseling to defector patients.

A study found that the disease prevalence rate among North Korean defectors living in South Korea is as high as 80 percent. The patients developed diseases in the course of defecting to South Korea via third world countries and some left their health problems untreated in North Korea. In many cases, diseases progress and the patients show more serious problems. Such patients should get treatment right away. For defector patients, Ms. Im offers counseling about a wide range of issues, from medical costs and insurance to useful tips on daily life and various diseases. She often visits hospitalized patients to ask them if they need anything and checks up on the condition of patients who have no family.

Sometimes I bring them food I cooked myself and I’m eager to help them solve their problems. When I see their delighted faces and when they recover their health, I feel proud of my job and I feel motivated to work even harder for them.

Im arrived in South Korea in August 2007 by way of China. She was able to acclimate to South Korean society more quickly compared with other defectors, but she also faced difficulties. When she was in urgent need of help, the Organization for One Korea helped her out by offering counseling training. She says, without the organization, she wouldn’t be what she is today. Being a consultant now, she is hoping to extend a helping hand to her fellow North Korean newcomers.

I bet North Koreans defected to South Korea with hopes and ambitions. They didn’t come here to fall behind other people or face finger pointing, did they? I always advise defectors to follow the same course of those who achieved success. Although we cannot completely heal the scars for the defectors, we can at least share joy and sorrow with them. By doing so, the patients will hopefully recover from illness quickly.
Im says she felt the importance of preparing for her own future while actively participating in social services to practice love and sharing. She hopes to study more about medicine, counseling and social welfare so she can give hope to many more newcomers from North Korea.