Time running out for Korean separated families despite hopes for reunion
- 6 years ago
So are there many cases like that of Kim? Is the government keeping track of the number of separated families?
Right, Ji-yoon, there are so many cases.
But there were a lot more initially in 1988, when the South Korean government began registrations for the separated families.
According to the unification ministry, as of April this year, among the almost one hundred-and-32-thousand people who had registered, fewer than half were still alive to meet their family members in the North.
Among them, nearly 64 percent were over 80 years old; if we include those older than 70, that's a whopping 86 percent of the total.
Right, Ji-yoon, there are so many cases.
But there were a lot more initially in 1988, when the South Korean government began registrations for the separated families.
According to the unification ministry, as of April this year, among the almost one hundred-and-32-thousand people who had registered, fewer than half were still alive to meet their family members in the North.
Among them, nearly 64 percent were over 80 years old; if we include those older than 70, that's a whopping 86 percent of the total.