Gov’t launches video messaging project for families separated by Korean War

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) — The unification ministry will launch its annual project to film messages from families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War addressed to their relatives in North Korea, officials said Wednesday.

This year’s filming will begin with around 1,000 applicants and will expand to include others, including separated families residing overseas, lasting until Oct. 31, ministry officials said.

Since 2005, the ministry has been filming messages from families separated from their relatives in North Korea due to the Korean War, with the aim of archiving them and potentially delivering them to recipients in the North.

As of October 2024, South Korea has 37,425 nationals who have registered their wish to locate separated relatives in North Korea, with many more such applicants in the South having died of old age or other reasons.

Many of them remain out of touch with their relatives in the North, with no knowledge of whether they are alive, as the two Koreas are separated by a heavily fortified border.

Following a total of 21 rounds of family reunion events between South and North Korea since 2000, along with seven rounds of video reunions and letter exchanges, such reunion events have been suspended since August 2018 due to frayed inter-Korean relations.

Since the ministry began the project in 2005, a total of 27,102 video messages from separated families have been filmed as of the end of 2024, the ministry said.