The South’s Red Cross has already set out to confirm the whereabouts of more than 66,000 separated family members.

According to the Unification Ministry, only 66,292 of the 129,698 South Koreans registered since 1988 remain alive as of July 31, meaning that more than 2,000 have died each year. The two Koreas have held 19 rounds of face-to-face family reunion events so far, with about 2,200 South Koreans, mostly in their 70s, 80s and 90s, reuniting with their relatives in the North.

Jeong also took note of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s appreciation of the recent dialogue that pulled the two Koreas back from the brink of an armed clash.

“We’re anticipating and urging the North to follow through on the agreement it sealed,” he added.

During a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission, the young ruler touted the agreement as a “pivotal chance to resolve acute military tension and turn around cross-border relations that had faced a ruin into the path of reconciliation and trust,” state media reported Friday.

“We’ve shoved dark clouds of war cast over the heads of our people and safeguarded peace and stability in the peninsula by taking the lead in high-level inter-Korean talks and tackling a tinderbox of armed conflict,” the Korean Central Television report said.

“We should cherish the agreement, which turned evils into blessings, and cultivate it.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)