Nomination Form International Memory of the World Register The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” 2014-41 1. Summary The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Findi ng Dispersed Families” comprises 20,522 records of live broadcasts by the Korean Broadcasting System of reunions of war-dis per se d families from June 30 through November 14, 1983. It holds 463 videotapes of 453 hours and 45 minutes of broadcasts, producers’ journals, applications to participate, broadcast ephemera, audiotapes, and photographs. The Cold War persists on the Korean Peninsula. Ten million people were separated from their families after Korea’s division follow ing Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War. The KBS Special Live Broadcast marked 33 years since the outbreak of the Korean War (June 25, 1950) and 30 years since armistice (July 27, 1953). The archives hold vivid reminders of its cruelest legacy. Reunions of long lost relatives helped assuage the pain of decades-long separation; subsequent South–North family reunions since September 1985 have helped ease tensions. They make a compelling argument for peace; never again allow such tragedy. The archives constitute documentary heritage of monumental value in world broadcasting history. “Finding Dispersed Families” was an epic television humanitarian campaign. Applicants for reunion totaled 100,952; 53,536 cases were broadcast, resulting in 10,189 reunions. It took 1,641 broadcasting personnel and aired live, daily, for 138 days. 2.0 Nominator 2.1 Name of Nominator Cultural Heritage Administrat ion, Republic of Korea 2.2 Relationship to the Nominated Documentary Heritage Governme nt office of the Republic of Korea in charge of managing all cultural heritage 2.3 Contact Person Park Hee-ung Director International Cooperation Division Cultural Heritage Administrat ion 2.4 Contact Details Name Address Park Hee-ung International Cooperation Division Cultural Heritage Administration Government Complex-Daejeon 189 Cheongsa-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon Telephone Facsimile Email +82 (0)42-481-4730 +82 (0)42-481-4759 [email protected] 3.0 Identity and Description of the Documentary Heritage 3.1 Name and Identification Details of the Nominated Heritage The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” 1) Original videotape recordings of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” 2) Records produced by KBS • Records produced in the planning process • Records produced in the process of production • Records later derived from the broadcast 3) Documents produced by the central government and local autonomous bodies 4) Records produced by public organizations, incorporated bodies, individuals, and businesses 5) Photographic records 3.4 History/Provenance The history of dispersed families goes back to the period of Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). In search of freedom, many Koreans took refuge in Manchuria, Russia and other places, and under Stalin some of them were forcibly relocated to Sakhalin and Tashkent. Moreover, some young people were dragged off to work in the mines or to join the Pacific War. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, the country was divided suddenly into South and North along the 38th parallel and not long after the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. Consequently, families living in the South and North were torn apart. The Korean War resulted in four million casualties and 100,000 war orphans; ten million people were separated from their families. The KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” went on air around the 33rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and the 30th anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the fighting. The broadcast did not proceed as originally planned. Earlier, KBS had planned to mark the war anniversary with the segment “I Still Haven’t Found My Family” that was broadcast on the morning program “Studio 830” on June 21, 1983. In the process of looking for people to appear on this program, KBS became aware of the suffering and intense longing of people from families torn apart by war. With the permiss ion of the then KBS President Lee Won-hong granted on June 23, preparations for a two-hour special broadcast, “Finding Dispersed Families ,” began. On June 26, a spot advertisement was aired inviting people to appear on the program. The original plan was to feature 200 people but when more than 1,000 applications were received within the next two days, the decision was made to present 850 cases on TV. The applicants were interviewed and divided into four groups. Fifty people who appeared to have the highest likelihood of finding their families were selected and seated right behind the announcers when the program went on air. In order to cover all 850 cases in two hours, each applicant appeared on TV holding a board with a brief outline of his/her story as each case was introduced by number. The program made a huge impact from the very beginning. The phones began to ring incessantly and those who could not get through to the TV station jumped in a taxi and came to KBS in person. An emergency meeting was held while the broadcast was still in progress and a decision was made to extend the program, originally intended to run only two hours, by another two hours and 15 minutes in order to introduce all dispersed family cases that had already been submitted. On the first day of the broadcast, 36 people were reunited with their families. The first was Shin Yeong-suk (then 40) who had been separated from her family in Busan during the Korean War. The day after the broadcast, July 1, people from dispersed families swarmed to KBS headquarters and Yeouido Plaza in front. The police came in to maintain order and provide guidance and the “Finding Dispersed Families Headquarters” was established. The second broadcast, which began at 10:15 p.m. on July 1, introduced cases that had been received at nine regional branches of KBS. Thus 138 days of live broadcasting began. 4.0 Legal Information 4.1 Owner of the Documentary Heritage (Names and Contact Details) Address: 13 Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, KBS Republic of Korea (Korean Telephone: +82-2-781-1000 Broadcasting Fax: +82-2-781-1649 Sys tem) Email: [email protected] Government of Address: Wing 2, Government Complex-Daejeon (National Archives of the Republic of Korea) 189 Cheongsa-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea Korea Telephone: +82-42-481-6300 (National Archives of Fax: +82-42-472-3906 Korea) Email: [email protected] Address: 208 Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Gallup Korea Telephone: +82-2-3702-2100 4.3 Legal Status All legal and administrative responsibility for preservation of the documentary heritage, The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families,” rests with the owners of the heritage listed above. 4.4 Accessibility The documentary heritage, The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families,” is available to the public on the KBS website. It can be accessed by using the search words “finding dispersed families” or “KBS archives” on any Korean portal site. The website’s VOD service allows users to view the broadcasts, and almost all related records such as photographs and the stories of the dispersed families can also be freely viewed. In addition, a database of the people who registered with KBS to find separated family members will be created to enable relevant broadcast footage to be found using the names of those searching for someone or being searched for. 4.5 Copyright Status The copyright to the documentary heritage, The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families,” belongs to KBS, which will bear responsibility for all copyright matters related to inscription on the UNESCO International Memory of the World Register. Copyrights to the music albums belong to the respective composers, lyricists, performers, and producers. 5.0 Assessment against the Selection Criteria 5.1 Authenticity The KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Familie s” was aired daily on channel KBS 1, beginning at 10:15 p.m. on June 30 and ending at 4 a.m. on November 14, 1983, marking a total of 453 hours and 45 minutes of live broadcasting over 138 days. The whole live broadcast was recorded. The 463 tapes of the original recordings, and other materials generated in the course of broadcasting such as the posters carrying participants’ capsule stories, cue sheets, programming schedules, radio recording materials, and photos are all authentic originals that have been preserved in the KBS archives. Most of the records generated by the central government and local autonomous bodies have been preserved in the National Archives of Korea. 5.2 World Significance . TV s hows the tragedy of war and national division to the world The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” are vivid records that show the world the wretchedness wrought by war and inspire respect for human rights and love for humanity. The world watched as hordes of people looking for lost family members crowded Yeouido Plaza and the areas around KBS headquarters. The then U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar expressed deep sympathy and understanding of the tragedy of dispersed families when he met with the Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Kyung-won on July 21, 1983. During the 70th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Seoul, 17 members from 7 countries visited the KBS broadcast site, along with the directors of the International Human Rights Commission. At the general assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union held in October 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand, there was a screening of a 30-minute English-language documentary on the subject of dispersed families.