South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has urged North Korea to restart reunions for families separated by the 1950–1953 Korean War, framing the initiative as an essential step in humanitarian cooperation between the two nations. His appeal came on Friday (Oct 3), just ahead of the Chuseok thanksgiving holiday, during a meeting with South Koreans who still have relatives living in the North. Lee said he hoped such efforts would ease long-standing tensions and open the door to renewed inter-Korean engagement.

Calling family reunions a “political responsibility,” Lee emphasised that both governments have a duty to help separated families communicate and exchange letters. He made these remarks during a visit to a border island facing North Korea, symbolising the emotional and physical distance still dividing families decades after the war. Official figures from South Korea’s Unification Ministry show that about 36,000 South Koreans have formally requested the government’s help in arranging meetings with relatives in the North. These programmes provided rare opportunities for brief, tightly supervised encounters between relatives who had been cut off for decades.

The last such reunions were held in August 2018 and have since been frozen amid deteriorating relations between Seoul and Pyongyang. Tensions deepened earlier this year when North Korea was observed dismantling a facility previously used for family meetings — a clear sign of its hardening stance toward the South. Lee’s remarks highlight his administration’s push to revive humanitarian links despite political and military frictions between the two neighbours.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from Reuters.