hankyoreh

A video reunion is held between members of divided families on Aug. 15

Video reunions among South and North Korean divided family members for the Lunar New Year holidays (Feb. 4-6) are appearing increasingly unlikely – despite the South Korean government’s repeated affirmation of its commitment to holding them – amid issues related to sanctions, including internal US discussions among related agencies. The South Korean government also “extended its review” of a planned Jan. 16 visit to North Korea by Kaesong Industrial Complex business owners, effectively cancelling the trip.

“Holding video reunions [among divided family members] for the Lunar New Year this year is a practical impossibility,” a Ministry of Unification official said on Jan. 15. Regarding the Kaesong Complex business owners’ request to visit North Korea on Jan. 16, the same official said, “We plan to notify them of a [one-week] extension [of the review period for the visit’s approval].”

Explaining the “practical impossibility” of the video reunions after repeated statements of commitment from Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon and others, the official said, “My understanding is that there are efforts and provisions in the sanction exemption procedures that are taking a lot of time [for discussions among related US government agencies].”

Video reunions take place over a network of television monitors at specific locations set up in Seoul and Pyongyang. The current equipment has not been used for over a decade since 2007 and would require upgrades and other repair and maintenance procedures. Repairing video reunion equipment in Pyongyang would require internal US government procedures to wave sanctions – the process that will reportedly require more time.

“Once we have a bit more certainty in terms of the procedures for waiving North Korea sanctions, it looks like the project will gain some momentum to go forward,” a Ministry of Unification official said.

At the same time, the official added, “We’re currently in mid-January, and the Lunar New Year holiday is in February, so I don’t think it’s practicable for us to do [the reunions] in time for the holiday.”

Like in-person reunions, video reunions require at least a month of preparations, including procedures to reach an agreement at Red Cross talks, preliminary candidate selection, verification of their living status, and finalization of the reunion attendee list.

The South Korean government’s failure to reach a definite conclusion on the Kaesong Industrial Complex business owners’ request to visit North Korea on Jan. 16 was also tied to the sanctions issue, along with political considerations and observation of the current progress in North Korea-US negotiations. Officials with the Ministry of Unification insisted that the matter would have to go through discussions by related ministries and procedures of seeking understanding from the international community.

“Since a visit by business owners cannot be seen as completely independent of the Kaesong Industrial Complex itself, I think these matters may serve as the basis for an overall conclusion,” a ministry official said.

At the same time, the administration adopted to extend its review rather than deferring or denying approval outright. Its approach comes across as a strategy to buy time and use a South Korea-US working group video conference this weekend as an occasion for weighing whether to approve the visit. According to the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act and other legislation, the Ministry of Unification is required to respond to North Korea visit requests within seven days of their receipt, with the option of one seven-day extension to its review period.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]