Title: Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act
This bill directs the Department of State to consult with South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically consult with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.
The State Department shall periodically report to Congress on the progress of such consultations.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3395 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3395

  To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with family 
                        members in North Korea.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2020

  Ms. Hirono (for herself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with family 
                        members in North Korea.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Korean War Divided Families 
Reunification Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERICANS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS 
              IN NORTH KOREA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (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 Concerning 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 20 face-to-face 
        reunions and multiple video link reunions.
            (4) Those reunions have subsequently given approximately 
        22,000 Koreans the opportunity to briefly reunite with loved 
        ones.
            (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 family 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 members 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 would constitute a positive humanitarian 
        gesture by the Government of North Korea.
            (11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Authorization 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 reunions between United States citizens and 
        their relatives 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 Appropriations of 
        the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 3081, 111th 
        Congress (House Report 111-187), the Committee 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 to, if necessary, appoint 
        a coordinator for such families''.
    (b) Consultations Required.--
            (1) Consultations with south korea.--The Secretary of 
        State, or a designee of the Secretary, shall 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 opportunities for video reunions 
        for Korean Americans and their family members in North Korea.
            (2) Consultations with korean americans.--The Special Envoy 
        on North Korean Human Rights Issues of the Department of State 
        shall regularly consult with representatives of Korean 
        Americans with family members in North Korea with respect to 
        efforts to reunite families divided after the signing of the 
        Korean War Armistice Agreement, including potential 
        opportunities for video reunions for Korean Americans and their 
        family members in North Korea.
            (3) No additional authorization of appropriations.--No 
        additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to the 
        Department of State to carry out consultations under this 
        subsection.
    (c) Additional Matter in Report.--The Secretary 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 description of 
the consultations described in subsection (b) conducted during the year 
preceding the submission of each report required under such section 
107(d).
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