South Korea warns its citizens not to discuss politics during the supervised reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
According to the Associated Press, hundreds of South Koreans this week are visiting their North Korean relatives in several rounds of highly supervised reunions.
The warning is not unusual, especially because the latest round of reunions come at a delicate time for both countries as they conduct ongoing negotiations.
The two sides held a historic meeting in April between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in.
North and South Korean leaders announced on Monday that the countries will hold another summit in May, marking the third time the leaders will have gotten together.
North Korea doesn’t want to increase the number of reunions; they even monitor them closely to ensure participants are not exposed to viewpoints that are critical of the Kim regime.
AP reported an incident where South Korean man and his North Korean nephew began arguing on Monday over Korean politics. Cha Song Il, a North Korean, told his uncle the Koreas should “drive the American bastards out,” accusing the U.S. of not following through on agreements made during President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim in June.
The uncle, Cha Jae-guen, though blamed the war on North Korea, noting that it had invaded the South.
But his nephew insisted that was “a lie,” the AP reported.
“The Korean War was something the Americans did,” Cha Song Il responded. “We fought against [our enemies] with our own strength.”
The North regularly leverages the reunions as propaganda opportunities, encouraging participants to praise its authoritarian regime.
Though 20,000 people have participated in similar meetings since 2000, none of them have been able to see their family members again, the AP reported.
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