남북 이산가족 교류 현황과 문제 해결 방안

Status of Inter-Korean Family Relations and its solution

133,299 people have been registered according to the status of family register of separated families recorded in the Ministry of Unification s Dispersed Families Information System“ by Apr. 30, 2019. Statistics indicate that the mortality rate for family members who are separated is increasing. The mortality rate for applicants aged 90 years or older is 23% and the number of deaths is 78,408. In this trend, all 70,000 survivors alive will die before 2029. The problem of separated families is an urgent matter. The death rate of current family members has surpassed the survival rate. The aging of the first generation of dispersed families gives a social implication that urgently needs to solve the problem of dispersed families. The problem of dispersed families should be approached from a humanitarian point of view, but not from a systematic or ideological perspective. A communication between North and South Korea is essential for reunion of separated families. However, the two Koreas have used the separated families as diplomatic and political arrangement for more than half a century. In order to solve the problem of dispersed families, this study proposes a chronological approach at the foreign level and a diversified approach at the domestic level. The solidarity approach at the foreign level should overcome the limits of the inter-Korean confrontation due to the division structure through solidarity with the international community including the United Nations. The diversification approach at the domestic level needs to separate the problems of dispersed families and the inter-Korean relations, and the roles of the government and the private sector separately. Recently, it has been argued that the dispersed families are aged and the regular reunion event should be hastened. In the reality that the inter-Korean relations are welcoming the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation, it became a very difficult task to see the sick reality of disasters no more. This study aims to explore the present situation of the two Koreas and the solution of the problems surrounding the problem of dispersed families.