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