내달 25일부터 30일까지 금강산에서 열리는 추석 이산가족 상봉을 앞두고 대한적십자사(한적)는 24일 1차 상봉 후보자 500명을 추첨했다.
한적은 이날 11시 서울 남산 본사에서 컴퓨터 무작위 추첨을 하여 500명의 1차 상봉 후보자를 선정했다. 한적은 고령자와 부부나 부모, 자식 등 직계가족 상봉자를 우선으로 추첨했다고 밝혔다.
고경석 한적 사무총장은 “통상 이산가족 상봉 준비에 50일 정도 소요되는데 이번에는 상봉까지 한 달밖에 남지 않았다”며 “시간이 촉박해 부득이하게 인선위원회를 토요일에 소집하게 됐다”고 설명했다.
한적은 이날 선정된 500명의 1차 후보자를 대상으로 상봉의사 확인 및 건강검진을 하고 200∼250명을 선발해 29일 북한 적십자사와 생사확인 의뢰서를 교환할 예정이다.
남북은 생사확인 회보서의 생존자 중 최종 상봉대상자 100명을 선정해 다음 달 16일 이산가족 상봉 최종명단을 교환하는 것으로 상봉 준비를 마무리한다. 8월 23일 현재까지 등록된 이산가족 상봉 신청자 중 생존자는 7만 2천882명으로 알려졌다.
한편, 류길재 통일부 장관은 25일 박근혜 대통령 임기 내 남북 정상회담 가능성에 대해 “정상들 간에 만나서 회담을 해서 성과가 있으려면 상당한 정도로 뭔가 여건들이 조성이 돼야 한다”면서 “정상들 간에 만나서 큰 틀에서 모든 것을 해결하겠다는 인식의 정상회담은 아직 생각하고 있지 않다”고 밝혔다.
류 장관은 또한 이날 KBS ‘일요진단’ 프로그램에 출연, 류 장관은 이어 대북 5•24조치 해제 문제와 관련, “북한의 책임 있는 조치가 있어야 한다”고 거듭 강조했다.
<관련 영문기사>
S. Korea picks 500 candidates for Sept. reunions
Seoul not considering inter-Korean summit yet: unification minister
By Song Sang-ho
The South Korean Red Cross on Saturday picked 500 candidates to reunite with their families in the North on Sept. 25-30 on Mount Geumgangsan, as part of preparations for the first such gatherings in nearly three years.
With priority given to elderly applicants and immediate family members such as parents and children of those living north of the border, the candidates were selected at random by a computer.
The 500 candidates will be narrowed down to around 250 following necessary procedures including health checkups this week. Then, Seoul is to request on Thursday that Pyongyang check whether their family members are still alive.
On Sept. 16, the two Koreas will exchange the final list of 100 people from each side as they agreed during their working-level meeting last Friday, when they also decided to arrange video-linked reunions for another 40 families from each side from Oct. 22-23.
“It usually takes about 50 days to prepare for reunions, but it is only a month away. (Due to the tight schedule), we convened the selection committee this weekend,” Ko Kyung-suk, who leads the South’s Red Cross, told media,
As of last Friday, there were more than 72,800 survivors who previously applied for the family reunions.
The applicants who failed to get the chance to meet their loved ones expressed sadness. Among them was Hyeon Chun-guk, who was taken to the South in 1950 after he was caught by the South Korean military as a prisoner of war.
“Well, we will meet again someday,” Hyeon, 81, told Yonhap News Agency.
As the South was speeding up the procedures for the reunions, attention was drawn to how the North would select its own candidates for the meetings.
While the South chose the candidates through a draw system, the North is said to pick its candidates based on their political orientation and family backgrounds.
Until the early 2000s, many appeared reluctant to meet their relatives in the South as they could face some discrimination in the repressive state due to their ties to the capitalist neighbor. But nowadays, many are said to be willing to meet their families who might give them monetary gifts.
Meanwhile, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said that Seoul is not yet considering an inter-Korean summit, stressing conditions should be forged to yield any meaningful outcome through the summit.
“We are not thinking about a summit between the leaders of the two Koreas to resolve issues from a broader perspective,” Ryoo said in an interview with KBS.
“(We don’t believe) the two Koreas can entangle a whole lot of bilateral issues all at once through the summit. But (I believe) the time will come.”
The minister also stressed that there should be “responsible measures” on the part of the North for the so-called May 24 measures to be lifted. Following the North’s sinking of the corvette Cheonan, Seoul imposed the measures that cut all government exchanges with the North.
“The public sentiment here would not allow Seoul to incrementally loosen those measures when no action has been taken by the North.”
As for Pyongyang’s request to hold talks over the resumption of the long-stalled tours to Mount Geumgangsan later this month or early next month, Seoul is expected to make its response this week.
Last week, Pyongyang requested to hold the meeting as soon as possible after Seoul proposed holding it on Sept. 25.
The Mount Geumgangsan tours have been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier there when she allegedly trespassed into a restricted area in July 2008.
The South has so far taken a cautious stance, maintaining that tours will not resume until the North crafts measures to ensure the safety of tourists and prevent a recurrence of the incident.
“We should make our judgment after taking into consideration all situations surrounding the issue of the mountain resort, rather than making a hasty decision,” a Seoul official said on condition of anonymity.
(
sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
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