A top United Nations official in South Korea spoke out about the "pressing" need to resume reunions for families separated by the Korean War, blaming Pyongyang's strict social control over citizens for getting in the way.

Speaking to NK News last week on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, Signe Poulsen -- representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul -- urged both Koreas not to treat the roughly 50,000 people officially waiting to meet relatives as a mere "bargaining chip."