Since a similar provision does not yet exist in the House version of the bill, this amendment is not a done deal (h/t P). This is interesting and something that I could see coming from Brownback’s office rather than Levin’s. Note mention of, “the U.S. Embassy in Pyongyang”:

The Senate last night passed the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, which included a provision authored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., calling for a report on family reunions between U.S. citizens and their relatives in North Korea.

[. . .]

The amendment requires the President to submit a report to Congress within six months that would contain several elements including:

• An estimate of the current number of U.S. citizens with relatives in North Korea and how many of those U.S. citizens are 70 or older;
• An estimate of the number of U.S. citizens who have traveled to North Korea for family reunions;
• An estimate of the amount of money and aid sent from the Korean-American community to North Korea in 2007;
• A summary of any allegations of fraud by third parties in arranging these family reunions.

In addition, the amendment calls for the President to describe any efforts the U.S. government has taken to facilitate reunions between U.S. citizens and their relatives in North Korea. Those efforts include negotiating with the North Korean government to permit family reunions; planning at the U.S. Embassy in Pyongyang, in the event of normalization between the two countries, to ease the way for American families to plan a reunion with their relatives in North Korea; informing Korean-American families of fraudulent practices by third party brokers who arrange reunions; developing standards for safe and transparent reunions overseas; and any other efforts taken in this area. The President is also required to report to Congress on the desirability and feasibility of increasing the U.S. government’s efforts to address this problem.

While I’m no fan of Levin’s, this provision seems generally ok. I wonder how Korean-Americans will react when asked (required?) to report how much they’ve sent to North Korea as that could run over into law enforcement or intelligence issues.