Towards Peaceful Settlement in Korea

"Off Ramps to War: Paths to Building Peace with North Korea" conference was held June 13, 2017, at the George Washington University School of International Affairs, Washington, DC,
 discussing various concrete paths towards peaceful settlement and "shared security" in the Korean Peninsular, with former Defense Secretary William Perry, renowned Koreanist Professor Bruce Cumings, veterans for peace, humanitarian NGOs, UN program officer, separated families, scholars, activists, journalists and concerned citizens.

The Legacies of the Korean War

New Resource:The Legacies of the Korean War (http://legaciesofthekoreanwar.org/)

Launched in September 2015 at UC Berkeley.  Includes video, audio, and text oral histories, Korean War Timeline, comprehensive Additional Resources, scholar essays, and much more.  

[From the site description]

In the United States, the Korean War, known as the “forgotten war,” more often than not is commemorated as a matter of national security between this country and South Korea. Seldom are the legacies of this brutal war recalled from a human-centered perspective. Rarely is attention given to the fact that, some several decades later, no peace process has brought the Korean War to a close. Korean American war survivors are now in their eighties and nineties, and the time is ripe to foreground their memories as vital to both the historical record and community reflection. Not just a geopolitical reality but an ongoing tragedy, the war’s irresolution has been borne out in the lives of aging Koreans in the diaspora, many of whom witnessed the ruin of their hometowns, were separated from their loved ones, were orphaned, were pressed into military service, and have longed for decades to be reunited with family in North Korea.

For many years, memory of these experiences was suppressed, pushed to the margins of official Korean War histories and silenced within Korean American communities fractured by Cold War divisions. But as survivors age and pass away and second- and third-generation Korean Americans seek to understand their historical origins, these often-painful memories stand as testaments not only to the generational trauma of war, but also to the strength and heart of the Korean American community.

This archive seeks to honor and to give voice to these memories and the hopes of the Korean American community for peace and reunification in Korea.

New Film Highlights Korea's Divided/Separated Families

This new documentary film (Divided Families), directed and produced by two Korean-American university students (Jason Ahn, Eugene Chung), screened at the U.S. Senate building on Oct. 4, 2011. It is a moving film that highlights the pains of separated families due to the Korean War and the prolonged division, focusing on separated Korean-American family members in their attempts to reunite with their loved ones in North Korea. The filmmakers are not professional filmmakers, but they made the film in their desire to spread the word around about this critical and not well-known issue. The audience was full of young Korean Americans -- indicating strong interests and activism on this issue from the second-generation Korean Americans. Hopefully, this issue will get more attention and resolution, vis-a-vis a peaceful settlement in the Korean Peninsula.

Reunion of Separated Families Resumes

In a bright breakthrough in stalled inter-Korea relations, reunion of separated families resumed at Mount Geungang resort area, after a 13-month hiatus due to worsened relations between the two sides of Korea. An arrangement for frequent reunions is imperitive as the separation now is in 60th year and many elders are passing away without getting the chance of seeing their loved ones.

South and North Korea Starts to Re-Engage

After a long lull, there are signs that the two sides of Korea are willing to talk to each other again. Though not successful, a meeting between military representatives of the two sides took place -- the first in two years. And with some shaky start in negotiations, another round of reunions of separated families is scheduled to take place later this month at Mount Keumgang resort area, with signs of agreement on regular reunions in the future. Also, South Korea sent food aid to North Korea and is allowing resumption of humanitarian aid, which were frozen since the Lee Myung-bak government tied aid to progress in nuclear disarmament issue.

North Korea is in flux as it held party congress amidst signs of eventual political succession to Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un. Those involved with nuclear disarmament negotiations were elevated to top leadership positions -- perhaps this will lead to resumption of stalled multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarment and security guarantees.

Brief Reunions of Separated Families

As a part of a recent, slight thaw in the inter-Korea relations, selected few separated family members (since the Korean War, due to the continuing division of Korea) were able to see their loved ones for few days at Mt. Keumkang resort area in North Korea. Noticeable on this reunion event was family reunions of a South Korean POW (Korean War) and a detained South Korean fisherman who ventured into the north. Apparently these two have chosen to settle down in North Korea -- with new jobs and families there -- making the dynamics and human stories of family separations and reunions more complex.

Both Korean governments should work towards increasing reunions of separated families, as any delay in reunions cause more and more elder separated members to pass away without ever seeing their loved ones again.

A Thaw in Inter-Korea Relations?

Are these signs of a new thaw in inter-Korea relations? Following the release of two American journalists, the South Korean worker from the Kaesung industrial park detained in North Korea (on charge of defaming North Korea and urging North Korean colleague to defect) was released. North Korea sent high-level representatives to Seoul upon the death of former president Kim Dae Jung, who held the first summit with North Korea. The emissaries met President Lee Myung-bak and suggested willingness of North Korea on the idea of another summit. The Red Cross representatives (photo above) met and agreed to hold another round of reunion of separated family members (due to the division of Korea).

German Woman Reunites with North Korean Husband

We have seen family reunions between separated Koreans in divided Korea, but this is an unusual, first case of a non-Korean reuniting with a separated Korean family member.

Renate Hong (photo, holding a family picture from 1961), 71, a German woman who married a North Korean foreign student in then-East Germany in 1960, was separated from her husband when North Korean students were recalled to their homeland. After many years (47 years) of trying to find the whereabouts of her husband and reunite with him, she is finally visiting North Korea, along with her two middle-aged sons, to meet with her husband.