Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act

Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act

This bill establishes a national registry of Korean American families who wish to be reunited with family members living in North Korea. The bill also requires the Department of State to include reunions of such families in any direct dialogue with North Korea.

Specifically, the bill requires the State Department to (1) collect information on Korean American families, divided from North Korean family members after the Korean War armistice, who wish to be reunited with such family members; and (2) establish a national registry of information on those families to facilitate future reunions. The State Department must ensure that any direct dialogue with North Korea includes progress towards holding such reunions.

The State Department must report to Congress periodically on the registry, previous reunions, and on certain North Korean actions related to reunions.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1273 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1273

 To direct the Secretary of State to establish a national registry of 
       Korean American divided families, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2025

     Mr. Subramanyam (for himself, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Connolly, and Ms. 
 Malliotakis) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of State to establish a national registry of 
       Korean American divided families, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Korean American Divided Families 
National Registry Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF KOREAN AMERICAN DIVIDED FAMILIES.

    The Secretary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on North 
Korean Human Rights Issues or such other individual as the Secretary 
may designate, shall--
            (1) collate information on Korean American families who 
        wish to be reunited with family members in North Korea from 
        which such Korean American families were divided after the 
        signing of the Agreement Concerning a Military Armistice in 
        Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to 
        as the ``Korean War Armistice Agreement''), in anticipation of 
        future reunions for such families and family members, including 
        in-person and video reunions; and
            (2) establish a private internal national registry of the 
        names and other relevant information of such Korean American 
        families--
                    (A) to host such future reunions in South Korea, 
                the United States, or third countries; and
                    (B) to provide for a private internal repository of 
                information about such Korean American families and 
                family members in North Korea, including information 
                about individuals who may be deceased.

SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND 
              NORTH KOREA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall take such actions as 
may be necessary to ensure that any direct dialogue between the United 
States and North Korea includes progress towards holding future 
reunions for Korean American families and their family members in North 
Korea as described in section 2.
    (b) Consultations.--The Secretary of State shall consult with the 
Government of the Republic of Korea in carrying out this section.
    (c) Report.--No later than one year after enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on--
            (1) the status of the national registry established 
        pursuant to section 2(a)(2);
            (2) the number of individuals included on the registry 
        who--
                    (A) have met their family members in North Korea 
                during previous reunions; and
                    (B) have yet to meet their family members in North 
                Korea during previous reunions;
            (3) a summary of responses by North Korea to requests to 
        hold reunions of divided families; and
            (4) a description of regulations in North Korea and actions 
        taken by North Korea in the year previous to submission of each 
        report that prevent the emigration of family members of Korean 
        American families.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate.
                                 <all>