The South Korean Red Cross on Tuesday proposed working-level talks with its North Korean counterpart to prepare reunions of separated families.

The proposal is the first in 15 months after the South Korean government indefinitely postponed inter-Korean Red Cross talks in November 2010, shortly after the North’s deadly shelling of Yeonpyeongdo.

South Korea’s Red Cross chief Yu Jung-keun said the South’s side on Tuesday sent a message to the North Korean Red Cross through their channel at the border village of Panmunjeom, offering to hold a working-level meeting on Monday next week, either in Gaeseong in North Korea or Munsan in South Korea.

“Reunion of separated families is a humanitarian issue, which should be resolved as a top priority, regardless of political situations between the two Koreas,” Yu told reporters in Seoul.

She said more than 4,000 South Koreans who applied for a family reunion have died every year due to their age, urging for a speedy resumption of the meetings.

“I hope this proposal can lead to family reunions and further consultations on inter-Korean humanitarian issues. I also anticipate a positive response from the North.”

In the message, the South’s Red Cross said a reunion could be held some time in March after a month of preparation, according to Yu.

The move comes as Seoul has repeatedly said that it would leave the door open for any kind of dialogue with Pyongyang including on the two deadly attacks on the South in 2010 and a resumption of the suspended tours of Mount Geumgang in the North.

It was not confirmed whether the North accepted the Red Cross’ offer.

Earlier, the Seoul government proposed talks with Pyongyang for pest control at ancient tombs located in the North but the North has not made any response as of Tuesday.

North Korea analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the Sejong Institute said the timing of the proposal for Red Cross talks was not good, considering heightened inter-Korean tension prior to the U.S.-South Korea joint Key Resolve military drill on Feb. 27. 

“In the past, North Korea used to soften its stance after a Key Resolve drill. The proposal should have come later than that, or very early this year,” Cheong told The Korea Herald.

“North Korea is busy preparing events for Kim Jong-il’s birthday on Thursday. They are unlikely to give a prompt response to the proposal.”

Even if North Korea accepts the South’s offer later, it will demand some food aid in exchange for family reunions, he said.

A Unification Ministry official said the proposal was made independent of the schedule of Kim Jong-il’s birthday or the U.S.-South Korea military drill.

“The proposal was made based on the urgency of reunion of separated families,” the official said.

The South Korean government estimates that there are about 600,000-700,000 Koreans in the two Koreas whose families were divided by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Since the first family reunion took place in August 2000, a total of 21,734 Koreans have met their lost families on 18 occasions ― either by face-to-face meetings or video meetings.

Under the current administration, however, family reunions have been held only twice ― in September 2009 and in October-November 2010.

According to data by the Ministry of Unification, eight out of 10 South Koreans whose families live in North Korea are over 70, meaning that time is running out fast for reunions.

The government confirmed 78,902 are still alive out of the 128,678 separated families registered to the ministry since 1999. About 50,000 have died.

Out of the survivors, 8.3 percent was aged over 90, 39 percent over 80, 39 percent over 70 and 12 percent over 60, the ministry said.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)