On 20 Oct 2015, the 20th divided family reunion meeting was hold in Mount Kumgang area in DROK, 389 South Korean participants fortunately had a brief meeting with their 141 relatives from North Korea after a 20 months absence. The sorrow and tears at the reunion site reminds people that the divided family issue, one of Korea's most urgent and pressing humanitarian problem caused by its historical and political division, is still remained unsolved and grim. This paper will summarize the information on this severe problem and briefly evaluate the possible solution proposed by James A. Foley in his work Korea's Divided Families: Fifty years of separation.
The divided family issue
According to Foley, the majority of divided families were separated from their relatives in two periods: the liberation period-from Korea's liberation and subsequent division of USSR and the US; and the Korean War itself. (Foley, p47) In the first period, the divided families came from the refugees and the returnee …show more content…
However, this number's accuracy is quite doubtful. In other estimate of official organizations, scholars and various other sources, the numbers range from 150,000 to four millions. The second period, the Korean War itself, was among the world's most destructive wars, in proportion to the population. During the war, the population of South Korea declined by nearly two million, excluding an influx of nearly 650,000 North Korean refugees. During the same period, about 290,000 South Koreans migrated to North Korea, either by force or by choice. (203) In Korean language, the word 'Chongman Kajok/千万家族/ten million families' is widely used to describe the countless number of divided families, and apparently the practical calculation is much larger than ten
The divided family issue
According to Foley, the majority of divided families were separated from their relatives in two periods: the liberation period-from Korea's liberation and subsequent division of USSR and the US; and the Korean War itself. (Foley, p47) In the first period, the divided families came from the refugees and the returnee …show more content…
However, this number's accuracy is quite doubtful. In other estimate of official organizations, scholars and various other sources, the numbers range from 150,000 to four millions. The second period, the Korean War itself, was among the world's most destructive wars, in proportion to the population. During the war, the population of South Korea declined by nearly two million, excluding an influx of nearly 650,000 North Korean refugees. During the same period, about 290,000 South Koreans migrated to North Korea, either by force or by choice. (203) In Korean language, the word 'Chongman Kajok/千万家族/ten million families' is widely used to describe the countless number of divided families, and apparently the practical calculation is much larger than ten