# What the Divided Families Reunification Act Does

This bill asks the U.S. State Department to work on helping Korean Americans reconnect with family members they've been separated from in North Korea for decades. When Korea was divided after the Korean War in 1953, thousands of families were split apart—some members ended up in North Korea while others escaped to South Korea or eventually came to America. Since then, there's been almost no contact between these separated relatives, and many Korean Americans have gone their entire lives without seeing or even communicating with their North Korean family members.

The bill recognizes that South Korea and North Korea have occasionally held family reunions between their own citizens—about 21 in-person reunions and several video calls since 1985, allowing roughly 24,500 people to briefly see loved ones. However, Korean Americans have been left out of these reunions. The bill asks the State Department to explore whether Korean Americans could participate in future reunions, either in person or through video calls. It also directs the State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues to regularly talk with Korean American community groups about these possibilities and to report back to Congress about what progress is being made.

The urgency here is real: many of the Korean Americans with family in North Korea are elderly and dying without ever having reconnected with their relatives. More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans pass away each year without being reunited with their North Korean family members. With over 1.7 million people of Korean descent living in the United States, this affects a significant number of families who are still hoping for a chance to see their loved ones again.

Importantly, this bill doesn't require any new government spending—it simply asks for conversations and coordination between U.S. officials, South Korean officials, and Korean American communities to explore what might be possible.

Divided Families Reunification Act

Meng, Grace

Divided Families Reunification Act This bill directs the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on its consultations with South Korea&nbsp;on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically report to Congress on its&nbsp;consultations with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.