More than 2,200 South Koreans died in the first eight months of this year without having a chance to reunite with their family members in North Korea after being separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, government data showed.

A total of 2,226 people passed away in the January-August period among around 133,700 applicants who had registered with the government for family reunion events, according to the data from the Unification Ministry.

The number of surviving people came to 40,408 as of end-August, with 67 percent of the total aged 80 or older, the data showed.

State-arranged family reunion events have been suspended amid frosty inter-Korean relations. Since the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two Koreas have held 21 rounds of face-to-face family reunions, including the latest one in August 2018. (Yonhap)