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| ▲ A 102-year-old man in Seoul points to an image of his relative in North Korea on Sept. 29, 2025. (Yonhap) |
separated families-survivors
Over 100,000 registered S. Koreans with separated families in N. Korea die of old age
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- More than 100,000 South Koreans who registered as having family members in North Korea separated by the 1950-53 Korean War have died of old age, government data showed Thursday, highlighting the urgency of arranging family reunions.
Of the total 134,516 people registered as separated families, 101,148 have died as of the end of 2025, according to the unification ministry data.
Two people newly registered last month as having family members separated in the North, while 292 others died, leaving only 34,368 survivors, down 2,573 from the end of 2024.
The brutal three-year civil war left many people separated from their families, while ongoing inter-Korean tensions have long halted once-regular family reunion events with relatives in the North.
With family reunions remaining halted, around 200 people die each month while waiting to reunite with relatives in the North.
Only one South Korean succeeded last year in reaching out to a family member in North Korea and confirmed the relative's whereabouts through privately arranged assistance, in an exceptional case, the ministry said.
The person, a former North Korean who defected to the South, learned about the whereabouts of a son in North Korea through a broker in China.
North Korean defectors with family members separated in the North are also officially categorized as separated families, according to the ministry.
South Korea last hosted reunions of families separated in the South and North in August 2018.
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