US House Rep Karen Bass' office issued the following earlier this week:
March 9, 2020
Press Release
WASHINGTON
– Today, a resolution to encourage reunions of divided Korean American
families introduced by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Chair of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human
Rights, was passed by the United States House of Representatives.
“Last year, I had the opportunity to meet with Kyung Joo Lee, a 90-year-old Korean American man who has not seen his three older brothers and his older sister since he fled North Korea more than 70 years ago,” said Rep. Bass. “Tears streamed down his face during that meeting as he held my hands and urged me to do what I can to help Korean families to be reunited. I’ve heard similar heartbreaking stories from many constituents in my district who have been unable to see their family members for decades because of international conflict. Reunification with their family members should be a humanitarian priority of immediate concern. I am so glad that that is now the sense of the United States House of Representatives.”
“We are grateful for Representative Bass' continued leadership on behalf of elderly Korean Americans across the country to reunite with their families in North Korea,” said Paul Lee, President of Divided Families USA. “We hope that this resolution can serve as a message of hope for these Americans, who have endured the scars of family separation for almost seven decades. Though US-DPRK negotiations remain deadlocked, this resolution outlines key action items that focus on what can be achieved now to lay the foundation for family reunions.”
In 1953, the division of the Korean Peninsula separated more than an estimated 10 million families, including some who are now citizens of the United States and have not been able to see their families in more than 60 years. The resolution that was just passed encourages the United States and North Korea to begin the process of reuniting Korean-American divided family members through exchanging information of divided family members in a pilot program for family reunions and finding matches for members on the divided family member registry through organizations such as the Red Cross.
