Government data show that a third of applicants for inter-Korean family reunions have died while waiting to meet with their North Korean kin, and the death rate is rising fast.

Integrated Information Center for Separated Families, which is under the umbrella of the Unification Ministry, says 28 percent, or 35-thousand, of the 127-thousand reunion applicants had died between 1988 and late last month.

These numbers represent only those who applied for the reunions. Once the data for those who have not applied for reunions is available, the totals are expected to be much more pronounced.

Considering the age of the applicants and their increasing rate of death, those affected hope to see an expansion in the number of reunions and the establishment of year-round meetings at the reunion center set to open at the North's Mount Geumgang in August.