To direct the Secretary of State to establish a national registry of Korean American divided families, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment
Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Coons, Mr. Kelly, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act establishes a national registry of Korean American families who were separated from relatives in North Korea following the Korean War Armistice Agreement in 1953. The bill directs the State Department to create and maintain this registry to facilitate future family reunions, including both in-person and video meetings.
Who Benefits and How
Korean American families separated from relatives in North Korea benefit by having an official government registry to document their family connections and prepare for potential reunions. The State Department's Office of the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights and Bureau of Consular Affairs receive $1 million in funding to establish and maintain the registry. Korean American advocacy organizations focused on family reunification may benefit from new partnership opportunities with the State Department.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The State Department faces new administrative responsibilities, including identifying and registering eligible families, maintaining privacy protections for sensitive family information, consulting with South Korea on reunion efforts, and submitting annual reports to Congress on registry status and North Korean responses. Congressional oversight committees receive additional reporting requirements. Individual Korean American families must provide personal information and consent to participate in the registry.
Key Provisions
- Creates a national registry of Korean American families divided by the Korean War who wish to reunite with relatives in North Korea
- Authorizes $1 million in appropriations to the State Department to establish and maintain the registry
- Requires the Secretary of State to include family reunion progress in any direct diplomatic dialogue with North Korea
- Mandates annual congressional reporting on registry status, reunion outcomes, and North Korean government responses
- Allows the State Department to share registry information with Korean institutions and academic researchers under strict privacy protections and consent requirements
- Requires consultation with the South Korean government on reunion efforts
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Establishes a national registry of Korean American families divided by the Korean War to facilitate future reunions with family members in North Korea
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Create infrastructure to support Korean American family reunification efforts and strengthen U.S.-North Korea diplomatic engagement on humanitarian issues"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Korean American families divided by the Korean War
- State Department (receives $1M appropriation)
- Advocacy organizations focused on Korean reunification
Likely Burden Bearers
- State Department (new administrative requirements)
- North Korea (diplomatic pressure)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "special_envoy"
- → Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of State
- "assistant_secretary"
- → Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
- "special_envoy"
- → Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of State
- "rok_government"
- → Government of the Republic of Korea
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology