III 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 587 

Encouraging reunions of Korean Americans who were divided by the Korean 

War from their relatives in North Korea. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2014 

Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. WARNER) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Encouraging reunions of Korean Americans who were divided 

by the Korean War from their relatives in North Korea. 

Whereas the division of the Korean Peninsula into the Republic of Korea (referred to in this Resolution as ‘‘South 

Korea’’) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 

(referred to in this Resolution as ‘‘North Korea’’) separated more than 10,000,000 Koreans from their family 

members; 

Whereas since the signing of the Korean War armistice 

agreement on July 27, 1953, there has been little to no 

contact between Korean Americans and their family 

members who remain in North Korea; 

Whereas North and South Korea first agreed to divided family reunions in 1985 and have since held 19 face-to-face 

reunions and 7 video-link reunions; 


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•SRES 587 IS 

Whereas the aforementioned reunions have subsequently 

given approximately 22,000 Koreans the opportunity to 

briefly reunite with their loved ones; 

Whereas the most recent family reunions between North 

Korea and South Korea took place in February 2014 

after a suspension of more than 3 years; 

Whereas the United States and North Korea do not maintain 

diplomatic relations, and certain limitations exist for Korean Americans to participate in inter-Korean family reunions; 

Whereas more than 1,700,000 Americans are of Korean descent; 

Whereas the number of first generation Korean and Korean 

American divided family members is rapidly diminishing 

given their advanced age; 

Whereas many Korean Americans with family members in 

North Korea have not seen or communicated with their 

relatives in more than 60 years; 

Whereas Korean Americans and North Koreans both continue to suffer from the tragedy of being divided from 

their loved ones; 

Whereas the inclusion of Korean American families in the reunion process would constitute a positive humanitarian 

gesture by North Korea and contribute to the long-term 

goal of peace on the Korean Peninsula shared by the 

Governments of North Korea, of South Korea, and of the 

United States; 

Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181) requires the President 

to submit a report to Congress every 180 days on ‘‘efforts, if any, of the United States Government to faciliVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Nov 21, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR587.IS SR587

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•SRES 587 IS 

tate family reunions between United States citizens and 

their relatives in North Korea’’; and 

Whereas in the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 (Public Law 111–242), Congress urged ‘‘the Special Representative on North Korea Policy, as the senior official 

handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the issues involving Korean divided families and, if necessary, to appoint a coordinator for such families’’: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the significance of North Korea’s 

3 past willingness to resume reunions of divided family 

4 members between North Korea and South Korea; 

5 (2) acknowledges North Korea’s release in No6 vember 2014 of incarcerated American citizens Ken7 neth Bae and Matthew Miller; 

8 (3) encourages North Korea to permit reunions 

9 between Korean Americans and their relatives still 

10 living in North Korea; 

11 (4) calls on the Department of State to further 

12 prioritize efforts to reunite Korean Americans with 

13 their divided family members; 

14 (5) acknowledges the efforts of the American 

15 Red Cross to open channels of communication be16 tween Korean Americans and their family members 

17 who remain in North Korea; 


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•SRES 587 IS 

1 (6) encourages the Government of South Korea 

2 to include United States citizens in future family re3 unions planned with North Korea; and 

4 (7) praises humanitarian efforts to reunite all 

5 individuals of Korean descent with their relatives 

6 and engender a lasting peace on the Korean Penin7 sula. 

Æ 


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