South Korea’s Red Cross will soon start verifying whether about 66-thousand people separated by the Korean War are currently living or deceased.
 
The move comes as President Park Geun-hye said in her Liberation Day speech that she hopes the two Koreas will exchange lists of separated people within this year.
 
The Korean Red Cross said Wednesday that it will set up about 100 telephones at its headquarters after consultation with the government.
 
Red Cross volunteers will then attempt to verify whether the separated people are alive or dead.
 
Currently, 66-thousand-292 people are registered as separated and alive in the Unification Ministry database with about half of them aged 80 or older.
 
The two Koreas have so far held 19 in-person family reunions and seven video reunions.