S. Korea says four out of 10 separated families are in 80s or over

[unreal.livejournal.com]

Four out of 10 South Koreans seeking to meet relatives in North Korea are in their 80s or over, the government said Thursday, highlighting the urgency of regularly holding reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

About 128,600 South Koreans have applied for temporary reunions with their loved ones in North Korea, but about 49,300 of them have died, according to the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.

A survey of more than 66,600 surviving separated family members showed that 43.8 percent of them are in their 80s or over, and 37.3 percent are in their 70s while 13.6 percent are in their 60s.

The survey, conducted between April and November, also found that 44.7 percent wanted to reunite with their parents, wives and husbands, or children in the North, while 44.1 percent hoped to meet with their siblings.

The divided Koreas have held more than a dozen rounds of reunions since a landmark summit in 2000, bringing together more than 21,000 family members who had not seen each other since the war.

South Korea wants to hold regular reunions, though no reunions took place this year amid lingering tensions over the North's deadly attacks on the South last year.

There are no direct means of contact between ordinary civilians of the two countries that remain divided by a heavily fortified border.

Source: yonhapnews

Comments

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

This fucked up border is just like the Berlin wall. It has to go down.
I'm not asking the country to re-unit but some free movement area could be nice.