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The "Committee to Promote UNESCO Memory of the World Registration of Inter-Korean Separated Families Records" will co-host an academic conference titled "Conference on Promoting UNESCO Memory of the World Registration of Inter-Korean Separated Families Records" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building's 10th meeting room on the 19th.

A public forum will be held to promote registering "Inter-Korean Separated Families Records" — documents capturing the pain of Korea's division, family reunions, and the story of reconciliation — as a UNESCO Memory of the World.

The "Committee to Promote UNESCO Memory of the World Registration of Inter-Korean Separated Families Records," together with the offices of Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kim Jun-hyung and Progressive Party Rep. Jung Hye-kyung, will co-host an academic conference titled "Conference on Promoting UNESCO Memory of the World Registration of Inter-Korean Separated Families Records" at 2 p.m. on the 19th, in the 10th meeting room of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

Held under the theme "From the Wounds of Division to Humanity's Shared Asset: Memories of Family Reunions and Peace," the conference will bring together domestic and international academic experts alongside relevant agencies and organizations, including the Ministry of Unification, the Korean Red Cross, and the Association of Separated Families in South and North Korea (chaired by Ryu Jae-bok).

The event will highlight the historical, human rights, and peace-related value of the inter-Korean separated families records, and will focus discussion on concrete strategies for pursuing UNESCO registration and ways to strengthen public-private cooperation.

◇ From family memory to "humanity's shared documentary heritage"

The inter-Korean separated families records document the lives of families separated by the historical tragedy of Korea's division, who sought to confirm whether their loved ones were alive and to reunite with them.

Letters and photographs exchanged between separated family members, reunion application materials, photos and videos from reunion events, and testimonies from those directly involved capture not only the suffering families endured due to division, but also their yearning for reunion, human dignity, and messages of reconciliation and peace.

In particular, the issue of separated families is seen as carrying universal significance beyond any single country or generation, since it connects to the broader global history of families torn apart by war, the Cold War, and political conflict.

The committee plans to actively convey to the international community that these records represent an important documentary heritage showing the impact of war and division on individuals and families — extending beyond the particulars of modern Korean history — and stand as "humanity's shared memory," passing on the values of peace and human rights to future generations.

◇ Discussion on building an integrated archive combining letters, photos, and testimonies

The conference will also address, as a key agenda item, plans to systematically survey, collect, and preserve records related to inter-Korean separated families currently scattered across government agencies, private organizations, and individuals.

Records related to separated families are currently held separately by the government, the Korean Red Cross, related private organizations, and separated family members and their descendants themselves, creating a need for systematic discovery, classification, and digitization of these materials.

Accordingly, the conference will gather expert input on locating and cataloging records, collection and digitization, systematic preservation and management measures, and defining the scope and value of records that meet UNESCO Memory of the World registration criteria.

◇ Committee chair Lee Jang-hee proposes forming a joint public-private working task force

Lee Jang-hee, chairman of the Committee to Promote UNESCO Memory of the World Registration of Inter-Korean Separated Families Records (professor emeritus at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), will present on the theme "Issues and Tasks Concerning the Memory of Inter-Korean Separated Families," addressing the international significance of the history of separated families and the need to preserve these records.

Chairman Lee plans to formally propose forming a joint public-private working task force, involving relevant ministries, public institutions, academia, civil society, and organizations related to separated families, to ensure the UNESCO registration effort moves beyond a symbolic declaration and becomes a substantive national project.

If formed, the task force is expected to serve as a central hub for efforts including a comprehensive survey and cataloging of inter-Korean separated families records, discovering key records and building a digital archive, academic research on the records' global historical and human rights value, building a network of domestic and international experts, and developing a step-by-step roadmap for submitting the UNESCO Memory of the World registration application.

The committee plans to use this conference as an opportunity to build a cooperative framework among the government, National Assembly, academia, and civil society organizations, securing real momentum toward registering the inter-Korean separated families records as a Memory of the World.

Given how rapidly separated family members are aging, the committee also plans to highlight the urgent task of promptly discovering and preserving survivors' testimonies and personally held records.

A committee official said, "The records of inter-Korean separated families don't merely depict the pain of division — they embody universal human values such as familial love, human dignity, reconciliation, and peace," adding, "We hope this conference becomes a starting point for systematically preserving these scattered records and sharing their value with the international community, developing them into a documentary heritage shared by all of humanity."

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                                                                                                        Ahn Jeong-hwan