A/HRC/4/15 page 19 59. While the Republic of Korea has become more assertive by voting for the resolution mentioned, national policy leaves the door open for possible opportunities to engage with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea when the time is ripe. To date, the Republic of Korea’s policy towards its northern neighbour has been a special policy influenced by the particular history of the Korean peninsula with a shared destiny for the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.14 The human rights issues covered by national policy include the following. There remain various consequences of the Korean war of 1950-1953 which have an impact on human rights, for instance the issue of missing persons and the reunification of families separated by that war. These are being dealt with by various inter-Korean ministerial talks and meetings of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The latest inter-Korean ministerial talks were held in Pyongyang in April 2006 and the resultant joint press statement noted that “The South and the North agreed to work together to actually resolve issues of those whose whereabouts and fates have been unknown during and after the Korean War”. The latest ICRC talks between the two countries took place in February 2006 and the agreement reached at that meeting stated that “the two parties will include an issue of confirmation of the fates of those missing during and after the Korean War in a broader category of separated families, consult on and resolve the issue”. 60. While a number of separated families from the North and the South have already met, this needs to be maximized so as to enable sustained family reunions to take place; it is important to enable family members to remain in touch once they have returned to their respective residences. There is also pending before parliament a bill to provide relief and assistance to those abducted by the Democratic People’s Republic. 61. Another part of the Republic of Korea’s human rights policy towards the Democratic People’s Republic is that the country has provided substantial humanitarian aid to its northern neighbour, both bilaterally and multilaterally. While aid is currently suspended as a reaction to the missile and nuclear tests, it may be resumed at an appropriate time. The Republic of Korea has also been supportive of the work of the Special Rapporteur. 62. It will be recalled that at the end of the Special Rapporteur’s visit to the Republic of Korea in 2005 for the first time in connection with his mandate, he issued a six-point human rights formula. Elements of the six points deserve to be underlined, together with other emphases as follows (see E/CN.4/2006/35, para. 78): The Special Rapporteur: Encourages the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in the spirit of inter-Korean dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation, to maximize family reunion opportunities, and urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to clarify and resolve effectively the long-standing problem of missing persons, bearing in mind the importance of resuming inter-Korean ministerial talks in future as part of the process to support the improvement of human rights in the country; 14 See further: International Symposium on Human Rights in North Korea (Proceedings), National Human Rights Commission of Korea, Seoul, 2006.