S555-119

Reported

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

119th Congress Introduced Feb 12, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill requires the Secretary of State to identify and register Korean American families divided by the Korean War to facilitate future reunions with family members in North Korea. Authorizes $1 million appropriation to carry, directs the Secretary of State to ensure U.S.-North Korea dialogue includes progress on family reunions, consult with South Korea, and report annually on the registry status, reunion outcomes, North Korean responses, and requires the Secretary of State to engage Korean American families divided by the Korean War and establish a private registry of their information, with provisions for sharing information with Korean institutions. It relies on reporting requirements, compliance mandates, and appropriations. The main policy areas are Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and Education.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional oversight committees (Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs) could gain revenue opportunities, State Department - Bureau of Consular Affairs and Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights could gain revenue opportunities, and Korean American advocacy organizations focused on family reunification could gain revenue opportunities.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Korean American families and individuals seeking family reunification would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Requires the Secretary of State to identify and register Korean American families divided by the Korean War to facilitate future reunions with family members in North Korea. Authorizes $1 million appropriation to carry...
  • Directs the Secretary of State to ensure U.S.-North Korea dialogue includes progress on family reunions, consult with South Korea, and report annually on the registry status, reunion outcomes, North Korean responses...
  • Requires the Secretary of State to engage Korean American families divided by the Korean War and establish a private registry of their information, with provisions for sharing information with Korean institutions...
  • Requires the Secretary of State to ensure U.S.-North Korea dialogue includes family reunion progress, mandates consultation with South Korea, and requires annual reporting on registry status, reunion outcomes, North...

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill requires the Secretary of State to identify and register Korean American families divided by the Korean War to facilitate future reunions with family members in North Korea. Authorizes $1 million appropriation to carry, directs the Secretary of State to ensure U.S.-North Korea dialogue includes progress on family reunions, consult with South Korea, and report annually on the registry status, reunion outcomes, North Korean responses, and requires the Secretary of State to engage Korean American families divided by the Korean War and establish a private registry of their information, with provisions for sharing information with Korean institutions.

Key Policy Areas

Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Education

Primary Purpose

The bill requires the Secretary of State to identify and register Korean American families divided by the Korean War to facilitate future reunions with family members in North Korea. Authorizes $1 million appropriation to carry, directs the Secretary of State to ensure U.S.-North Korea dialogue includes progress on family reunions, consult with South Korea, and report annually on the registry status, reunion outcomes, North Korean responses, and requires the Secretary of State to engage Korean American families divided by the Korean War and establish a private registry of their information, with provisions for sharing information with Korean institutions.

Policy Domains

Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs Education

Whole bill

Identified Gains
  • Congressional oversight committees (Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs)
  • State Department - Bureau of Consular Affairs and Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights
  • Korean American advocacy organizations focused on family reunification
  • Academic institutions and organizations focused on Korean American family reunification
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs
Korean American advocacy organizations focused on family reunification:
Congressional oversight committees (Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs): ,
Academic institutions and organizations focused on Korean American family reunification:
State Department - Bureau of Consular Affairs and Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights:
Identified Costs
  • Korean American families and individuals seeking family reunification
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs
Korean American families and individuals seeking family reunification:

Legislative Progress

Reported
Introduced Committee Passed
Apr 28, 2025

Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment

Feb 12, 2025

Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Coons, Mr. Kelly, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
7 mentions across 4 clauses
+3 positive ?4 uncertain

Congressional oversight committees (Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs), State Department - Bureau of Consular Affairs and Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights, State Department - Secretary of State and Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights

Educational Services
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Academic institutions and organizations focused on Korean American family reunification

Advocacy Groups
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Korean American advocacy organizations focused on family reunification

3/6
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Foreign Policy Foreign Affairs Education

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