On the 26th, North Korea claimed once again
that the May 24th Measures, which are currently blocking exchange and
cooperation between the South and North, must be lifted in order for reunions
for separated families to take place.
On the same day, the North’s
Party-publication, Rodong Sinmun, released an article titled, “The Biggest
Obstacle Preventing Reunions for Separated Families,” wherein it lambasted the
South for “distorting reality” and blaming the North for thwarting reunion
efforts for these estranged relatives.
Following this, the article made
criticizing statements such as, “The May 24th Measures are major obstacles
enforced by the traitor, Lee Myung Bak, and are preventing cooperation and
talks.” It added that while the leader is no longer in power, the sanctions
still pose insurmountable impositions in the present day, hampering meaningful exchange
between the two Koreas and the resumption of tours in the Mt. Geumgang region.
“Even when bombs and bullets were raining
down upon us during wartime, it was a customary practice to cease battle if
humanitarian issues were brought up. However, the authorities in the South are
currently deeming these issues objects of sacrifice for their contesting
policies,” the article read, referencing the South’s resolute stance on following
through with the ROK-U.S. joint military exercises.
With strong rhetoric typical of the North,
the piece warned South Korea’s government that if the May 24th Measures are not
scrapped and joint military exercises suspended, the “cries made by the South
for the family reunions will merely be empty echoes.”
Prior to this, similar demands were laid out in a statement released by the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland on the 23rd, calling on South Korea to lift the
May 24th Measures to demonstrate sincerity in resolving humanitarian issues.
