More than 97,000 South Koreans die without reuniting with kin in North

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - More than 97,000 people have died in South Korea without reuniting with their kin in the North, according to the latest data.

Approximately 3,000 who have ties across the border in the northern side of the Korean Peninsula die every year without seeing their family members, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification.​​​​​​​

Of the 134,291 South Koreans waiting for reunification with their kin in the North, 97,350 died at the end of last year, data showed.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided into North and South since the end of World War II, and later in the aftermath of the inter-Korean War, following an armistice in 1953.

“The issue of separated families is a task that both the South and the North must solve as a top priority without political or security considerations,” Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho said Wednesday.

The minister also said the government intends to put the "separated families issue" above all other matters.