117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 826 
AN ACT 
To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with 
family members in North Korea. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Divided Families Re-
unification Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERI-
CANS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS IN NORTH 
KOREA. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) The division of the Korean Peninsula into 
South Korea and North Korea separated thousands 
of Koreans from family members. 
(2) Since the signing of the Agreement Con-
cerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at 
Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to as 
the ‘‘Korean War Armistice Agreement’’), there has 
been little to no contact between Korean Americans 
and family members who remain in North Korea. 
(3) North Korea and South Korea first agreed 
to reunions of divided families in 1985 and have 
since held 21 face-to-face reunions and multiple 
video link reunions. 
(4) Those reunions have subsequently given ap-
proximately 24,500 Koreans the opportunity to 
briefly reunite with loved ones. 
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(5) The most recent family reunions between 
North Korea and South Korea took place in August 
2018 and did not include any Korean Americans. 
(6) The United States and North Korea do not 
maintain diplomatic relations and certain limitations 
exist on Korean Americans participating in face-to- 
face reunions. 
(7) According to the most recent census, more 
than 1,700,000 people living in the United States 
are of Korean descent. 
(8) The number of first generation Korean and 
Korean American family members divided from fam-
ily members in North Korea is rapidly diminishing 
given the advanced age of those family members. 
More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans die each 
year without having been reunited with their family 
members. 
(9) Many Korean Americans with family mem-
bers in North Korea have not seen or communicated 
with those family members in more than 60 years. 
(10) The inclusion of Korean American families 
in the reunion process, with the support of inter-
national organizations with expertise in family trac-
ing, would constitute a positive humanitarian ges-
ture by the Government of North Korea. 
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(11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 
110–181; 122 Stat. 407) required the President to 
submit to Congress a report on ‘‘efforts, if any, of 
the United States Government to facilitate family re-
unions between United States citizens and their rel-
atives in North Korea’’. 
(12) The position of Special Envoy on North 
Korean Human Rights Issues has been vacant since 
January 2017, although the President is required to 
appoint a Senate-confirmed Special Envoy to fill this 
position in accordance with section 107 of the North 
Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7817). 
(13) In the report of the Committee on Appro-
priations of the House of Representatives accom-
panying H.R. 3081, 111th Congress (House Report 
111–187), the Committee urged ‘‘the Special Rep-
resentative on North Korea Policy, as the senior of-
ficial handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the 
issues involving Korean divided families and to, if 
necessary, appoint a coordinator for such families’’. 
(14) In the report of the Committee on Appro-
priations of the House of Representatives accom-
panying H.R. 133, 116th Congress (House Report 
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116–444), the Committee urged ‘‘the Office of 
North Korean Human Rights, in consultation with 
Korean American community organizations, to iden-
tify Korean Americans who wish to be reunited with 
their family in North Korea in anticipation of future 
reunions’’. 
(b) CONSULTATIONS.— 
(1) CONSULTATIONS
WITH
SOUTH
KOREA.— 
The Secretary of State, or a designee of the Sec-
retary, should consult with officials of South Korea, 
as appropriate, on potential opportunities to reunite 
Korean American families with family members in 
North Korea from which such Korean American 
families were divided after the signing of the Korean 
War Armistice Agreement, including potential oppor-
tunities for video reunions for Korean Americans 
with such family members. 
(2) CONSULTATIONS
WITH
KOREAN
AMERI-
CANS.—The Special Envoy on North Korean Human 
Rights Issues of the Department of State should 
regularly consult with representatives of Korean 
Americans who have family members in North 
Korea with respect to efforts to reunite families di-
vided after the signing of the Korean War Armistice 
Agreement, including potential opportunities for 
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video reunions for Korean Americans with such fam-
ily members. 
(3) NO
ADDITIONAL
AUTHORIZATION
OF
AP-
PROPRIATIONS.—No additional amounts are author-
ized to be appropriated to the Department of State 
to carry out consultations under this subsection. 
(c) ADDITIONAL MATTER
IN REPORT.—The Sec-
retary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on 
North Korean Human Rights Issues, shall include in each 
report required under section 107(d) of the North Korean 
Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817(d)), a de-
scription of the consultations described in subsection (b) 
conducted during the year preceding the submission of 
each report required under such section 107(d). 
Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 2021. 
Attest: 
Clerk. 
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