DPRK sends proposal to S Korea for new reunion event of separated families

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has sent a proposal to South Korea for holding a new reunion event for families separated on the two sides of the Korean Peninsula, the KCNA news agency reported Saturday.

Jang Jae On, chairman of the Central Committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society made the proposal in a notice sent to Ryu Jong Ha, president of the South Korean Red Cross. He suggested that the two organizations hold a working contact to facilitate the reunion as early as possible.

Jang said the two sides had "a good precedent" in which they have arranged more than a dozen of reunions of the separated families on the occasion of the traditional harvest moon day, "alleviating their pain and deepening the kinship."

He proposed to hold the new reunion event at the DPRK's Mt. Kumgang resort on the coming harvest moon day, which falls on Sept. 22

In the notice, Jang also said he hopes that humanitarian cooperation between the two sides would gain new momentum from the reunion event.

The DPRK and South Korea have since Aug. 2000 held 17 reunion events, during which a total of more than 16,000 people met their separated family members and relatives.