Two U.S. senators have introduced a resolution calling for family reunions between Korean-Americans and their long-lost relatives in North Korea.

Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) submitted the "resolution encouraging reunions of Korean-Americans who were divided by the Korean War from their relatives in North Korea" to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

The resolution (S.Res.190) followed a similar House resolution authored by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) that passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April.

Kirk and Warner submitted a similar resolution in November, but it was scrapped as it did not pass through the Senate before the previous Congress ended its term.

The text of the new resolution was not available, but it is believed to be similar to the November one.

The November resolution called for North Korea to "permit reunions between Korean Americans and their relatives still living in North Korea," and urges the State Department to further prioritize efforts to organize such reunions.

It also called on South Korea's government to include U.S. citizens in future family reunions planned with the North.

Millions of Koreans remain separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Since the first-ever 2000 summit of their leaders, the two Koreas have held 18 rounds of temporary reunions of families, with the last round in February last year. But these reunions did not involve Korean Americans.

More than 100,000 Korean Americans are believed to have loved ones in the North.

Earlier this week, Rangel and Royce sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, urging him to make greater efforts to realize family reunions involving Korean Americans. (Yonhap)