SEOUL May 13 Kyodo southward Kore...

SEOUL May 13 Kyodo

southward Korea proposed to North Korea forward Tuesday the holding of a seventh spherical of family reunions on June 19-24 at the North's Mt Kumgang, southward Korea's Red Cross group said.

The temporary reunions of family members separated into the North and the southerly since the 1950-1953 Korean War have been the major byproduct of the 2000 inter-Korean summit between then southern Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The southern proposal was delivered to the North Korean side by the agency of a telephone message, the R Cros said.

In the same message, Suh Young Hoon head of the (South) Korean National R Cros also urg the North to begin again a suspended ferry service to carry southern Korean tourists to Mt. Kumgang.

forward April 25, North Korea told the toward the south Korean side to suspend the Mt Kumgang tour throw out launched in 1998, due to regards about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

It is uncertain whether the North will agree to a seventh circular of inter-Korean family reunions because of the North's continued make anxious about SARS, South Korean officials said.

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