More than half of South Koreans with relatives in North Korea have died since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, official data showed Sunday, highlighting the growing urgency to hold reunions of the separated family members.

As of the end of February, 65,922 out of 130,838, or 50.4 percent, of South Koreans who applied for reunions with their North Korean family members had died, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Unification and the Korean Red Cross.

It is the first time the number of those dead has surpassed the number of survivors.

The number of survivors dropped to 64,916, with 56.6 percent of them aged 80 or older, the data showed.

Experts called for a flexible approach to resolving the issue amid North Korea's provocative and unpredictable behavior.

Inter-Korean ties have been badly strained since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket last month.

"The family members directly concerned will all die within several years, causing the issue itself to evaporate," said Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies. "There can't be progress if the South sticks to its stance on the basis of principle without trying to resolve the issue in a mutually beneficial manner."

He called for efforts to find a practical solution.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, accused North Korea of using temporary reunions of family members as a political tool to win favors from the South.

Pyongyang has especially tied the reunions to the resumption of a tour program on its scenic Mount Kumgang, which served as a source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime before it was scrapped in 2008 over the shooting death of a South Korean tourist.

He conceded, however, that South Korea has also approached the issue from a political standpoint.

The two Koreas have held 20 rounds of temporary reunions since 2000. 

The last session was held in October last year. (Yonhap)