their relatives, due to the iron curtain that divided the peninsula left many not knowing the whereabouts and well-being of their loved ones who remained behind in the North. There were fathers and brothers who left their mothers behind, thinking they would be able to return in a few days, only to lose their relatives for a lifetime. Mothers who left their children behind, only to never be able to see them again. Children who became lost in the mad scramble of huge crowds of people flooding the paths to escape. The United Nations Command includes a provision in the armistice regarding the ‘voluntary’ repatriation of displaced persons. But after the 'armistice, the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), at the 38th parallel between North and South Korea, becomes the most heavily militarized border in the world. Some divided families between South Korea and the Korean diaspora who live in Western countries were able to reunite. In 2010 there were 1.7 million Americans of Korean descent residing in the United States. 100,000 Korean Americans are estimated to be members of a divided family, who still have kin living in North Korea. In 1903 the first Korean Americans arrived in Hawaii as laborers. From 1975 - and after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, abolishing quotas on the number of Asians allowed to enter the United States, was passed - Koreans began immigrating to the United States in large numbers, becoming one of the top five countries of origin of immigrants to the United States. Korean American pastors began to visit North Korea to search for their family members as well as the family members of those in their congregations. However, reuniting divided families between the two Koreas remains difficult due to lack of communication. The problems posed by these divided families is a pressing humanitarian issue that has been used for political ends by the governments on both sides of the 38th parallel north over the last five decades. Most families do not know the fate of their relatives on the other side of the border. Following the historic summit of 2000 in Pyongyang, there have been several rounds of reunions, but the number of families affected remains low. For many of the first generation, divided families' time is running out, as many pass away before seeing their relatives again. “By 28 June 2001, a mere 11 months after the first