Senate Passes Levin Amendment in Defense Bill Requiring Report on American – North Korean Family Reunions

WASHINGTON – The Senate last night passed the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, which included a provision authored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., calling for a report on family reunions between U.S. citizens and their relatives in North Korea.

“Hundreds of thousands of Korean-Americans have immediate family members in North Korea whom they would dearly love to see,” Levin said. “It’s unclear how many of those families have been able to have a reunion with their loved ones and how many have attempted to see their families but have encountered insurmountable obstacles. This amendment calls on the President to document the scope of this issue so that we will have solid information going forward.”

The amendment requires the President to submit a report to Congress within six months that would contain several elements including:

• An estimate of the current number of U.S. citizens with relatives in North Korea and how many of those U.S. citizens are 70 or older;
• An estimate of the number of U.S. citizens who have traveled to North Korea for family reunions;
• An estimate of the amount of money and aid sent from the Korean-American community to North Korea in 2007;
• A summary of any allegations of fraud by third parties in arranging these family reunions.

In addition, the amendment calls for the President to describe any efforts the U.S. government has taken to facilitate reunions between U.S. citizens and their relatives in North Korea. Those efforts include negotiating with the North Korean government to permit family reunions; planning at the U.S. Embassy in Pyongyang, in the event of normalization between the two countries, to ease the way for American families to plan a reunion with their relatives in North Korea; informing Korean-American families of fraudulent practices by third party brokers who arrange reunions; developing standards for safe and transparent reunions overseas; and any other efforts taken in this area. The President is also required to report to Congress on the desirability and feasibility of increasing the U.S. government’s efforts to address this problem.

The House bill does not contain a similar provision. The House and the Senate will meet in a conference committee to resolve differences between the two bills.