Seoul: The unification ministry has announced the commencement of its annual initiative to record video messages from families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, intended for their relatives in North Korea.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this year's initiative will start with around 1,000 applicants, eventually expanding to include other separated families residing overseas. The project will continue until October 31, as stated by ministry officials. The ministry has been conducting this project since 2005, with the aim of archiving these messages and possibly delivering them to the recipients in North Korea.

As of October 2024, there are 37,425 South Korean nationals who have expressed their desire to locate separated relatives in North Korea. Many applicants in South Korea have passed away due to old age or other reasons. The separated families have been unable to communicate with their relatives in the North, remaining unaware of their status due to the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas.

The ministry's efforts are part of a broader context where 21 rounds of family reunions, seven rounds of video reunions, and letter exchanges between South and North Korea have occurred since 2000. However, these reunion events have been suspended since August 2018 following deteriorating inter-Korean relations. Since the inception of the video messaging project, a total of 27,102 video messages have been recorded by the end of 2024.