South Korea proposes more family reunions

South Korean President Park Geun- hye yesterday proposed fresh reunions of families separated by the Korean War after a previous bid was cancelled by Pyongyang, and promised increased humanitarian aid to the impoverished North.

In her New Year press conference, Park also said the shock purge and execution last month of Jang SongThaek, the once- powerful uncle and political regent to young leader Kim Jong- un, raised uncertainties over the stability of the Stalinist state.

North Korea in September last year cancelled a scheduled reunion of families divided by the war, dealing an emotional blow to elderly Koreans denied a longed- for, and probably final, meeting with surviving relatives.

After a painstaking selection process, 96 South Koreans had been set to travel to the North’s Mount Kumgang resort for a face- to- face gathering with family members they haven’t seen for 60 years.

It would have been the first such mass reunion for three years, but with just days to go, Pyongyang postponed the event, blaming “hostility” from South Korea.

Heartbreak

At the time, South Koreans described their heartbreak at the decision. Kang Neung- Hwan, 92, who had desperately hoped to see his son, who lives in the North, told Yonhap news agency: “I am greatly disappointed. It’s increasingly painful for me to wait to see my son.”

“I hope that elderly members of separated families will be allowed to reunite around Lunar New Year [ on January 31] to help heal the wounds in their hearts,” Park said in her address.

She said the South would increase humanitarian aid and expand exchanges with the North this year. Seoul last year offered 13.5 billion won ( Dh46.6 million) in aid for the North Korean operations of international organisations like Unicef. The South does not currently offer direct aid to the North.