Constructing a 6,000-Pyong Family Reunion Center

South and North Korea have agreed to construct a family reunion center of about 20 thousand square meters (around 6,000 pyong) in the Jopo Village, Onjongni Mt. Geumgang area next spring and will be finished by early 2005.

The two sides have signed an agreement of 11 articles regarding the construction of the Mt. Geumgan Reunion Center at the closing talks of the Inter-Korean Red Cross Meeting held at Mt. Geumgang on November 6. The reunion center will be used as a guest house for tourists to Mt. Geumgang during the period when no reunions are being held.

The construction of the family reunion center was first discussed in 1972, when the Inter-Korean Red Cross Meetings first started. The Inter-Korean Red Cross meetings are considered to have furnished the foundation for the policies on the reunion of separated families.

The South Korean head delegate, Lee Byung-woong, and special assistant to the president of the South Korean Red Cross Society said, “Our main concern has been to construct the reunion center, for it has been the most desperate wish of the separated families. Therefore, we came to an agreement with the North for this project. In addition, we came to a de facto accordance to hold a separated family reunion for the ninth time after next year’s New Year’s Day.”

The two sides will hold family reunions, even during the construction of the reunion center, three times a year –around New Year’s Day, the anniversary of the 6/15 Joint Declaration, and Chusok (Korean thanksgiving). In addition, both sides will respectively arrange a 300-pyong reunion office on each side of the building of the reunion center for the inter-Korean talks held at Mt. Geumgang. The rest of the 5,400-pyong reunion center space will hold family meeting rooms, family-size condominium guest houses, and related facilities.

An account from the meeting explained, “The center will have a ground-breaking ceremony some time in April or May of next year after a geographical examination, basic design, and drawing of the plan. The construction will solely be the responsibility of the South, but the design and planning will reflect the North’s opinions to a great extent.”

Also during the construction, the North will supply manpower and materials while the South will pay for them. The total cost of construction is expected to be around 36-48 billion won and the managing cost of the center to be approximately four to five billion won every year.

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com