For Korean War families, reunions are becoming a race against time

The number of South Koreans separated from family members in North Korea during the 1950–53 Korean War continues to fall. By late August, 32,948 of the 134,848 people registered as having relatives in the North were still living, according to Unification Ministry data submitted to ruling Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-shik.

Age is intensifying the urgency. Two-thirds of those still alive are at least 80: 10,945 are between 80 and 89, while 11,007 are 90 or older. The ministry data indicate that around 3,000 South Koreans with family in the North die each year.

Woo, whose own family was divided by the border, urged the ministry to prepare now for the possibility of renewed inter-Korean dialogue. If talks between North Korea and the United States resume, he said, separated families should be treated as a priority issue.

The war split families across the peninsula, while continuing tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang have made reunions difficult. South Korea last hosted meetings for separated families in August 2018.