PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025
Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act
This bill establishes a national registry of Korean American families who wish to be reunited with family members living in North Korea. The bill also requires the Department of State to include reunions of such families in any direct dialogue with North Korea.
Specifically, the bill requires the State Department to (1) collect information on Korean American families, divided from North Korean family members after the Korean War armistice, who wish to be reunited with such family members; and (2) establish a national registry of information on those families to facilitate future reunions. The State Department must ensure that any direct dialogue with North Korea includes progress towards holding such reunions.
The State Department must report to Congress periodically on the registry, previous reunions, and on certain North Korean actions related to reunions.
People & committees
Rep. Subramanyam, Suhas [D-VA-10] · D–VA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Nov 1, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1273 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1273 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1273 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1273 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-12 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would require the State Department to collect information and create a private registry for Korean American families seeking reunions with relatives in North Korea after separation following the 1953 Korean War armistice. It would also require reunion efforts in direct U.S.–North Korea dialogue and reports to Congress. These are proposed requirements; the supplied evidence does not establish enactment or guarantee reunions.
collate information on Korean American families who wish to be reunited with family members in North Korea from which such Korean American families were divided after the signing of the Agreement Concerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 1953
establish a private internal national registry of the names and other relevant information of such Korean American families
The Secretary of State shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that any direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea includes progress towards holding future reunions
the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
2025-02-12: Introduced in House
Section 1 would name the bill the Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act.
This Act may be cited as the Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act.
The Secretary of State would gather information through the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues or another designated individual. The effort would cover Korean American families seeking reunions with relatives in North Korea from whom they were separated after the July 27, 1953 armistice, and would prepare for both in-person and video reunions.
The Secretary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues or such other individual as the Secretary may designate, shall— (1) collate information on Korean American families who wish to be reunited with family members in North Korea from which such Korean American families were divided after the signing of the Agreement Concerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to as the Korean War Armistice Agreement), in anticipation of future reunions for such families and family members, including in-person and video reunions
The national registry would be private and internal. It would contain names and other relevant family information to support future reunions in South Korea, the United States, or other countries, and preserve information about relatives in North Korea, including people who may have died.
(2) establish a private internal national registry of the names and other relevant information of such Korean American families— (A) to host such future reunions in South Korea, the United States, or third countries; and (B) to provide for a private internal repository of information about such Korean American families and family members in North Korea, including information about individuals who may be deceased.
The Secretary of State would have to take necessary actions to ensure that any direct U.S.–North Korea dialogue includes progress toward reunions for the families covered by the bill.
The Secretary of State shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that any direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea includes progress towards holding future reunions for Korean American families and their family members in North Korea as described in section 2.
The Secretary of State would have to consult South Korea's government when carrying out section 3's reunion-dialogue requirements.
The Secretary of State shall consult with the Government of the Republic of Korea in carrying out this section.
The first report would be due within one year after enactment, followed by annual reports for five years. Reports would go to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
No later than one year after enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
In this Act, appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
Reports would describe the registry's status and count registered individuals who have met relatives in North Korea during previous reunions and those who have yet to do so.
(1) the status of the national registry established pursuant to section 2(a)(2); (2) the number of individuals included on the registry who— (A) have met their family members in North Korea during previous reunions; and (B) have yet to meet their family members in North Korea during previous reunions
Reports would summarize North Korea's responses to reunion requests. They would also describe North Korean regulations and actions during the preceding year that prevent relatives of Korean American families from leaving North Korea.
(3) a summary of responses by North Korea to requests to hold reunions of divided families; and (4) a description of regulations in North Korea and actions taken by North Korea in the year previous to submission of each report that prevent the emigration of family members of Korean American families.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated November 1, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 12, 2025. It does not establish what happened afterward.
Source snapshot updated 2025-11-01T08:05:39Z. 2025-02-12: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 2025-02-12: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-12. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status in accompanying materials cannot be established.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No separate narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Coverage of the program's intended families alone does not constitute such a finding. This conclusion is limited to the supplied version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Nov 1, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI