North, South Korea to meet on resumption of family reunions

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- North and South Korean officials said Monday they will meet this week to discuss the resumption of cross-border family reunions.

The announcement came a week after Seoul proposed holding the reunions Feb. 17-22 at a resort on Mount Kumgang, on the North's eastern coast, Yonhap news agency reported.

Responding Monday, Pyongyang offered to hold the talks "on either Wednesday or Thursday at a convenient time for Seoul."

South Korea's Unification Ministry responded immediately, saying the talks would begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the border village of Panmunjom.

The ministry said it would be prepared to hold the reunions "as soon as possible" at the dates and place detailed in its Jan. 27 request.

The North Korean reply did not mention a possible schedule for the reunions of families, whose members have been separated since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

North Korea canceled the scheduled reunions last year, citing provocations by the South.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's state-run newspaper, Monday urged Seoul to "make a decision to quit dangerous acts of hurting its brother by inviting foreign nuclear power if it wishes to build trust and improve relations."

Joint exercises with South Korean and U.S. military forces are scheduled to be conducted from late February through April. Pyongyang calls the exercises a rehearsal for nuclear war against the communist country.