North Korea rejects S. Korea's offer of talks on family reunions

North Korea on Thursday rejected South Korea's offer of talks on laying the groundwork for reunions of families separated after the Korean War in the latest sign of lingering tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

   Still, the North indicated that it can hold the reunions in "good season," though it did not give a specific time frame for the unions.

   The move came three days after South Korean President Park Geun-hye called for a resumption of the reunions, one of the highly emotional issues for aging people between the two rival Koreas, around Lunar New Year's Day.

   Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Jan. 31 this year, is one of the biggest holidays in both Koreas, in which family members and relatives usually gather.

   The move also came eight days after the North's leader Kim Jong-un called for "a favorable climate" to improve inter-Korean ties and pledged to make aggressive efforts to strive for better relations in his New Year's message.  (Yonhap News)