The unification ministry said Wednesday it will prioritize confirming the fate of separated families’ relatives in North Korea if strained inter-Korean relations begin to improve.
Under the 2026-2028 plan for supporting families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the ministry said it will make efforts to resume exchanges between such divided families at the government level and facilitate civilian-level exchanges between them.
“When there is progress over inter-Korean relations, the government will prioritize confirming the fate of the families’ relatives in North Korea,” the ministry said.
Since the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two Koreas have held 21 rounds of separated family reunions. Since the last event in August 2018, state-arranged family events have been suspended amid frosty inter-Korean ties.
North Korea dismantled a reunion facility for separated families inside its Mount Kumgang tourist area after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered officials in 2019 to tear down all “unpleasant-looking” facilities built by South Korea at the mountain resort.
The ministry said it will consider measures to replace the family reunions location and seek reciprocal visits to Seoul and Pyongyang by separated families in the two Koreas.
The issue of separated families has taken on urgency as more elderly people have died without having a chance to meet their kin in the North due to Pyongyang’s reluctance to hold family reunion events.
The number of surviving separated family members registered with the government came to 34,658 as of the end of November. Of them, 32 percent are aged 90 and older.
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