China News Service, January 22. According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Ministry of Unification's information system for separated family members reported on the 21st that from January to December 2022, 3,647 people have passed away after applying to the government to participate in reunion activities for separated family members of South Korea and North Korea.
Data map: On August 24, 2018, separated family members of South Korea and North Korea participated in a meeting at Mount Kumgang in North Korea.
Photo courtesy of Mount Kumgang joint interview group
As of the end of December 2022, a total of 133,675 people in South Korea have applied for meetings with separated family members, and only 42,624 applicants are still alive, accounting for 31.8%.
Among them, the applicants who are over 90 years old (28.5%) and 80-89 years old (37.1%) are the most, 19.2% are 70-79 years old, 9.3% are 60-69 years old, and about 6% are under 59 years old.
The Korean peninsula has been divided since the Korean War ended in 1953.
The war and confrontation have resulted in the separation of a large number of families in North and South Korea, and the separation of relatives from North to South.
From August 2000 to August 2018, South Korea and North Korea held 21 reunions of separated families.
After the leaders of South Korea and North Korea met three times in 2018, as the meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States ended in February 2019 without any results, relations between South Korea and North Korea have also become colder. The reunion of separated family members has not been restarted in the past five years. The establishment of a permanent meeting place, video meeting and video letter exchange agreed by the North Korean leader in 2018 has also failed to be implemented.