North Korea has proposed the resumption of a programme of reunions for families separated by the division of the Korean peninsula, state media said Saturday.
 |
| 77-year-old North Korean Oh Won-Woo, is hugged by his long-lost South Korean sisters during a family reunion meeting at the North\'s Mount Kumgang resort, in 2007. |
The proposal was made in a notice sent on Friday by Jang Jae On, chairman of the Central Committee of North Korea\'s Red Cross Society to his South Korean counterpart Ryu Jong Ha, Pyongyang\'s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Jang suggested a working contact of Red Cross authorities for arranging the reunion of separated families and their relatives at the North\'s Mt. Kumgang resort on September 22.
He proposed a working contact "at the earliest possible day" to discuss the reunions.
The proposal comes amid icy inter-Korean ties in the aftermath of the North\'s alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship.
Jang said there was a precedent for reunions to mark the traditional folk day of the harvest moon, which falls on September 22, adding that reunions alleviated the pain of separated families.