The government said Tuesday that 50 out of the 250 South Korean applicants for the inter-Korean family reunions were separated due to family members taken prisoner by the North during the Korean War.
 
Lee Duk-haeng, South Korea’s chief delegate to inter-Korean working-level Red Cross talks, disclosed the reason for 50 more South Korean applicants than North Korean applicants.
 
Lee said that any of the 50 applicants could take part in the reunions upon confirmation of the whereabouts of their kin in the North. 
 
The South Korean government has been known to request that the North confirm the whereabouts of prisoners of war and abductees during preparations of family reunions in the past.