Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act

II 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Korean War Divided 4 Families Reunification Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERI- 6 CANS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS IN NORTH 7 KOREA. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 9 ings: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Mar 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3395.IS S3395 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3395 IS (1) The division of the Korean Peninsula into 1 South Korea and North Korea separated thousands 2 of Koreans from family members. 3 (2) Since the signing of the Agreement Con- 4 cerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at 5 Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to as 6 the ‘‘Korean War Armistice Agreement’’), there has 7 been little to no contact between Korean Americans 8 and family members who remain in North Korea. 9 (3) North Korea and South Korea first agreed 10 to reunions of divided families in 1985 and have 11 since held 20 face-to-face reunions and multiple 12 video link reunions. 13 (4) Those reunions have subsequently given ap- 14 proximately 22,000 Koreans the opportunity to 15 briefly reunite with loved ones. 16 (5) The most recent family reunions between 17 North Korea and South Korea took place in August 18 2018 and did not include any Korean Americans. 19 (6) The United States and North Korea do not 20 maintain diplomatic relations and certain limitations 21 exist on Korean Americans participating in face-to- 22 face reunions. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Mar 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3395.IS S3395 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3395 IS (7) According to the most recent census, more 1 than 1,700,000 people living in the United States 2 are of Korean descent. 3 (8) The number of first generation Korean and 4 Korean American family members divided from fam- 5 ily members in North Korea is rapidly diminishing 6 given the advanced age of those family members. 7 More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans die each 8 year without having been reunited with their family 9 members. 10 (9) Many Korean Americans with family mem- 11 bers in North Korea have not seen or communicated 12 with those family members in more than 60 years. 13 (10) The inclusion of Korean American families 14 in the reunion process would constitute a positive 15 humanitarian gesture by the Government of North 16 Korea. 17 (11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Au- 18 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 19 110–181; 122 Stat. 407) required the President to 20 submit to Congress a report on ‘‘efforts, if any, of 21 the United States Government to facilitate family re- 22 unions between United States citizens and their rel- 23 atives in North Korea’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Mar 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3395.IS S3395 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3395 IS (12) The position of Special Envoy on North 1 Korean Human Rights Issues has been vacant since 2 January 2017, although the President is required to 3 appoint a Senate-confirmed Special Envoy to fill this 4 position in accordance with section 107 of the North 5 Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 6 7817). 7 (13) In the report of the Committee on Appro- 8 priations of the House of Representatives accom- 9 panying H.R. 3081, 111th Congress (House Report 10 111–187), the Committee urged ‘‘the Special Rep- 11 resentative on North Korea Policy, as the senior of- 12 ficial handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the 13 issues involving Korean divided families and to, if 14 necessary, appoint a coordinator for such families’’. 15 (b) CONSULTATIONS REQUIRED.— 16 (1) CONSULTATIONS WITH SOUTH KOREA.— 17 The Secretary of State, or a designee of the Sec- 18 retary, shall consult with officials of South Korea, as 19 appropriate, on potential opportunities to reunite 20 Korean American families with family members in 21 North Korea from which such Korean American 22 families were divided after the signing of the Korean 23 War Armistice Agreement, including potential oppor- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Mar 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3395.IS S3395 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3395 IS tunities for video reunions for Korean Americans 1 and their family members in North Korea. 2 (2) CONSULTATIONS WITH KOREAN AMERI- 3 CANS.—The Special Envoy on North Korean Human 4 Rights Issues of the Department of State shall regu- 5 larly consult with representatives of Korean Ameri- 6 cans with family members in North Korea with re- 7 spect to efforts to reunite families divided after the 8 signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, in- 9 cluding potential opportunities for video reunions for 10 Korean Americans and their family members in 11 North Korea. 12 (3) NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF AP- 13 PROPRIATIONS.—No additional amounts are author- 14 ized to be appropriated to the Department of State 15 to carry out consultations under this subsection. 16 (c) ADDITIONAL MATTER IN REPORT.—The Sec- 17 retary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on 18 North Korean Human Rights Issues, shall include, in each 19 report required under section 107(d) of the North Korean 20 Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817(d)), a de- 21 scription of the consultations described in subsection (b) 22 conducted during the year preceding the submission of 23 each report required under such section 107(d). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Mar 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3395.IS S3395 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS