Saemsori Congratulates Congressional Commission on Divided Families

WASHINGTON, DC, July 24 – Saemsori today joined Reps. Mark Kirk (R-UT) and Jim Matheson (D-UT) to announce the launch of a bipartisan effort in Congress to open dialogue with North Korea on families separated for more than half a century since the Korean War.


“For 57 years, I have not gone a single day without crying for my wife and sons,” said 87-year-old Rev. Wan No from Utah. “Who knows how many more days I have left?”


“All too often we forget the human face of North Korea and the devastating impact the regime’s policies have taken on ordinary Korean-Americans,” said Kirk, the only member of Congress to travel to every province of North Korea. “Now more than 50 years since the Korean conflict divided a nation, we are losing survivors whose only wish is to see their loved ones again. We hope to give them that gift.”


Over 100,000 Korean Americans may still have family in North Korea. In the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Korean Americans had no choice but to negotiate with the black market to find their families. Without the protection of the US government, many have been victimized by fraudulent visa brokers.


“The black market surrounding North Korea has taken advantage of too many elderly Korean Americans,” said Mr. Se Hum Hong, chairman of Saemsori. “We need to shine a light on this. The Commission is the first step toward transparency.”


While Saemsori had attempted to connect these divided families to the State Dept for help, they found there was little that could be done.
“The United States and the DPRK do not currently have in place a program or mechanism to facilitate the reunification of divided families,” wrote Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Bergner in a letter to Rep. Jim Matheson. The letter stated that family reunions could be part of the long process to normalize relations between the US and North Korea.
“Time is running out!” said 66-year old Saemsori spokeswoman, Cha-hee Stanfield. “My mother in Chicago and my father in North Korea are already dead. Those still alive have waited more than 50 years.”


“Community groups, by putting a human face to this problem, can make these families a priority,” said Alice Jean Suh, director of Saemsori. “The Commission can remind North Korea that we will not forget about our own citizens.”


Saemsori was founded in January 2006 to be a constructive voice for family reunions between the US and North Korea. It is currently collecting a nationwide database of divided families.



Older Video of Speech by Founder of the Group:

[MEDIA]http://www.usinkorea.org/North_Korea/videos/confer ence/korea_war_abductees_family_union_KWAFU_trans. wmv[/MEDIA]

Groups who need donations who do great work with North Korean refugees and promoting NK Human Rights:

I would certainly like to see some glimmer of light that re-unification with relatives and improvement in human rights would come out of North Korea.
But I don't expect anything. The only way they will respond is if you offer them incentive. Appealing to their sense of human decency won't work. You have to offer them something significant in order to get any response, and all the begging in the world will fall on deaf ears.
Offer Beef Cattle, Fertilizer, Cold Cash or Rice, and you may get a response, but never in kind. Always the gift will exceed the value of the return offering. If you haven't figured that out in 55 years, you haven't been paying attention.

North Koreans have been erroneously taught that the American Devils started the Korean War, and are responsible for the poverty they now experience.
Why should they give a damn about South Koreans, who sleep with the Devil?