N. Korea agrees to hold Red Cross talks on Sept. 7

Published : Aug 30, 2015 - 09:54 Updated : Aug 30, 2015 - 09:54

North Korea has accepted the South Korean Red Cross' offer to hold working-level talks on Sept. 7 to discuss the issues of reunions for families separated by the Korean War, the Unification Ministry here said Saturday.

On Friday, the Korean Red Cross proposed that the two sides meet at its "House of Peace" in the village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas.

The ministry said it received a letter from the North through a contact channel in Panmunjom around 1 p.m.

(Yonhap)

"The two sides will hold consultations on related matters through the Panmunjom contact channel," said the ministry.

On Tuesday, the two Koreas agreed in a landmark agreement to push for the resumption of temporary family reunions around Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving Day, which falls on Sept. 27.

However, many have anticipated that the actual reunions will take place in October due to a lack of time to prepare for them.

At the Sept. 7 meeting, the two countries will likely discuss the date and the site of the reunion event, and the number of participants.

The Korean Red Cross has begun working to confirm the fate of more than 66,000 separated family members known to be alive in the South. A total of 129,698 people are registered in the government's data system and half of them are reported to have died.

The two Koreas have held 19 rounds of face-to-face family reunion events so far, including the last one in early 2014. Around 2,200 South Koreans, mostly in their 70s, 80s and 90s, met their relatives in the North.

Family reunions have become an increasingly pressing humanitarian issue as most of the separated family members have become advanced in age and wish to see their long-lost relatives before they die. (Yonhap)