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NORTH KOREA SAID today it has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to resume reunions for families separated since the 1950-53 war, in another apparent sign of easing tensions.
The North has agreed to hold the event during the traditional Chuseok holiday that falls on 19 September as suggested by the South, Pyongyang’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement on official media.
It also proposed a separate round of indirect family reunions via video conference around October 4 – the anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit, said the statement on the North’s official news agency.
The move came days after the South’s President Park Geun-Hye last Thursday urged Pyongyang to “open its heart” and agree to hold the first family reunions since 2010.
‘Joint efforts’
Officials of the Red Cross from both sides will meet on 23 August as proposed by Seoul to discuss details, the North said, suggesting the Mount Kumgang resort in the North as the venue for the talks.
“Now is the time for the north and the south to make joint efforts for the improvement of the north-south ties and peace and common prosperity on the Korean peninsula,” said the statement.
Seoul described Pyongyang’s offer today “positive,” but insisted that the officials’ meeting to discuss the family reunion be held at the border truce village of Panmunjom, instead of Mount Kumgang.
Kim Hyung-Suk, spokesman for the South’s unification ministry that handles cross-border affairs, said Seoul would make a decision on the proposed talks on the Mount Kumgang later after internal reviews.
Reunions
Millions of Koreans were left separated by the war, which sealed the peninsula’s division. Most have died without having had a chance to meet family members last seen six decades ago.
About 72,000 South Koreans – nearly half of them aged over 80 – are still alive and waiting for a rare chance to join the highly competitive family reunion events, which select only up to a few hundred participants each time.
At the reunions, North and South Koreans typically meet in the North for two or three days before the South Koreans – many in tears – head home again.
For those too infirm to travel, reunions via video conferencing have been arranged in recent years.
- © AFP 2013.
Can’t believe such high profile actors still work with him.
was just about to say that.
Rape culture at its finest.
Because he’s an “artiste” it probably makes it okay. The liberal luvvies are full of sh!t
he*
He’s a great movie maker…I’ll never forget his version of Macbeth and of course the Pianist was 1st class….I wouldn’t trust him around my 13 year old daughter though.
Macbeth was the first film he did after his pregnant wife was murdered by the Manson family. Probably explains why it was good.
No similarities with the Assange case
At 83 your daughter is safe enough…
The person who he ‘raped’ doesn’t even want him in jail. The whole court case in the US was suspect. Not saying he didn’t do it but an agreement made was being changed and he fled as a result.
There are many high profile people who did very similar to him at the time and never charged. Times have changed and under age sex was not consider pedophilia then which applies to prepubescent children but used now to include underage sex. Not agreeing with it just a different time.
Kal, that “different time” excuse is something the Church has tried to hide behind on many occasions. His actions were illegal at the time. It’s not like the age of consent laws were made up after the fact.
MacBeth was fantastic. Remember, it was made quite soon after Charlie Manson got hold of Sharon Tate. That entire scene / time was very screwed up.
@Kal Opers ” Raped” in quotation marks? Really? Do you know anything about this case? He drugged a child with Quaaludes and sodomized her while she struggled and tried to get away. What about that isn’t rape?
he raped a kid – being ‘confined’ for that is not a violation of his human rights.
The reasons he decided to make a run for it are not that simple.He was offered a plea bargain and he took it.
But afterwards, former DA David Wells, whose statements were the most damning against Polanski, and who said he advised the judge to imprison Polanski, admitted that he lied about those statements, and said that to the press to “play up” his own role
I still don’t think I give a damn that he didn’t want to serve more than 42 days in prison – he raped a kid. Give him life.
He did face a judge, an agreement was made, and then it turned into a media show trial and the judge reneged on the agreement made and so he did a legger. He initially pleaded not guilty and was going to fight it up until that plea bargain was made. They dropped 5 of the 6 charges in the plea and he accepted the sexual assault against a minor charge. However, afterwards, when he had served the sentence, they moved the goalposts.
Remember also that his victim, Samantha Geimer, has also publicly called for charges to be dropped and for him to be allowed to return to the US. She says she bears no ill-will or malice.
I’d view it very differently if she hadn’t said that.
Isn’t it true that as an adult..his victim said she bears him no Ill will?unusual case..
Yes. She said it was blown out of all proportion, but also said what he did was wrong, and felt he had paid for his mistakes and wanted it laid to rest so they could both get on with their lives. He made a 500k settlement to her too and said she believed he was not a danger to society and would never reoffend.
And if I remember correctly…her MA played a part,as in procuring her daughter??
@Niall…..the power a paedophile has over its victims mind is phenomenal and increases in intensity the younger the victim is so I’m not surprised she has said that or how do you think the Catholic church got away with raping kids for centuries.
A paedophile is someone whose primary or sole attraction is to prepubescent under 11′s. No evidence he’s a a paedophile.
This is more like our old (now changed) statutory rape charge.
God lads I don’t know, 13 is very young.
Niall, stop defending this child rapist.
I’m not defending a child rapist. I’m having a discussion about a film director and his case. If you don’t like that, fcuk off.
Infantophilia sex or attraction to a child under 6
Pedophilia sex with or attraction to a child between 6 and 10
Hebephilia sex with or an attraction to a child 11-14
Ephebophilia sex with or an attraction to a person 14-19 classed as statutory rape dependant on the age of consent Per country or state a person travelling from a country that has a law of 18 as age of consent to a country that has the law of age of consent as 16 is sex tourism and is illegal
Forensics psychology degree some of the matter is not nice but has to be learnt
In above case Russia had a very young age of consent 40 years ago think it was 13 but he is guilty of statutory rape none the less you enter a country you obey their laws simples
I don’t think anybody has made any points about his film direction, so yes you are attempting to defend a child rapist. You seem to think there are degrees of child rape… Tell me…on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is only a ‘good’ child rape, and 10 is a ‘very bad’ child rape, which one would you classify this?
And also, do you agree with the 46 days he served for this or do you think he should have served less?
She never said it was blown out of proportion she said she wanted to forget about it. Its followed her her whole life, she was sick of talking about it.
He needs a good kick in the stones.
People just don’t seem to care about these issues when someone they respect rapes someone.
I remember Irish literature fans jumping to Cathal Ó Searcaigh’s defence because he wrote nice poetry or the fact no Sinn fein supporter will say boo about their cover-ups.
It is clear to see how things went so badly years ago when the Church was revered too much
There’s definitely truth in that. The opposite is also true in that lots of high profile people have also been subjected to inhumane treatment.
One of the worst cases in modern times and should be of grave concern to anyone with an interest in justice and sex crimes has been the treatment of Cliff Richard. The UK cops turn up at his door with media cameras and NO evidence whatsoever and INVITE people to level accusations. It was a disgrace. A witch-hunt.
A great load of shite about nothing that happened a long time ago!
same old story -kids don’t matter!
A peado by any other name is still a peado !
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