UN Rapporteur Welcomes Family Reunions Between North, South Koreans

The UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana welcomed on Monday the meeting of previously separated families of North and South Koreans.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) The UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana welcomed on Monday the meeting of previously separated families of North and South Koreans.

Earlier in the day, a group of 89 South Korean citizens and over 300 accompanying persons left for North Korea in order to meet their relatives.

"These reunions are a significant step on the path to fully respecting and honoring the human rights of all people living on the Korean peninsula and beyond. This is the first such event since 2015 and, bearing in mind the ages of those affected, I encourage both sides to arrange more of these reunions as soon as possible so that more people can get together with their relatives and are allowed to remain in touch with them," Quintana said as quoted in the UN press release.

Such meetings for people separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War have been held since mid-1980s. The previous event was organized in October 2015 while the decision on the current one was made during the April 27 meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The situation on the Korean peninsula has significantly improved over the last several months, with North Korean leader Kim having held two rounds of talks with South Korean President Moon and a top-level summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore.