North Korea proposes early talk to discuss separated families

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea proposed Saturday that Red Cross officials from North and South Korea meet this month to discuss the reunion of families who have lived separated for a half century across the world's most heavily armed border.

The proposal was another tangible sign that the isolated communist North may be eager to implement a series of agreements struck by the leaders of the two Koreas during their historic three-day summit, which ended Thursday.

For over a half century, the two Koreas have traded saber-rattling rhetoric across the Demilitarized Zone, guarded by nearly 2 million battle-ready troops. Occasional progress toward rapprochement had often been reversed by armed skirmishes and other tension-raising developments.

In a telegram sent to its South Korean counterpart Saturday, the North Korean Red Cross Society proposed that they meet at the border village of Panmunjom this month to discuss reuniting separated families and repatriating North Korean spies held in the South.

''Red Cross Societies of both sides must actively contribute to improving North-South relations by faithfully implementing the summit agreements absolutely supported at home and abroad,'' it said.

Relations have warmed since this week's summit, when South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il signed agreements aimed at easing tensions, helping the impoverished North rebuild its economy and eventually working toward reunification.

They agreed to begin allowing reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, starting on a holiday both countries share - Aug. 15, the day Korea was freed from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II in 1945.

If such reunions take place, Kim Dae-jung promised to repatriate an unspecified number of convicted North Korean spies still held in South Korea after serving long prison-terms.

As part of the summit deals, North and South Korea stopped propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ. On Friday, North Korea quickly returned a South Korean fishing boat that had drifted into North Korean waters.

But separated families remains the most emotional among a host of thorny issues that have divided the two Koreas.

An estimated 1.2 million war refugees from the North are living in South Korea today. More than half are over the age of 60; more than 200,000 are in their 70s. Most left behind relatives in the North.

The Korean War ended without a peace treaty, and the border is sealed, depriving separated families of letters, phone calls, travel and other means to learn the whereabouts and fates of their relatives.

In 55 years, there has been only one official meeting of separated families. In 1985, after 14 years of negotiations, 50 North Koreans traveled to Seoul and 50 South Koreans went to Pyongyang for a four-day visit. But efforts for further reunions were scuttled amid rekindled military tensions.

South Korean human rights groups say there are 88 convicted northern spies in South Korea. Of those, 58 people with families in North Korea want to go home.

In 1993, Seoul sent former North Korean guerrilla Ri In Mo home in a humanitarian gesture. North Korea treated him as a national hero and used him for anti-South propaganda. Seoul has not repatriated any northern spies since.

The summit was the latest move by North Korea to end its isolation. Desperate for food aid, the North has opened relations with Italy and Australia and is trying to improve ties with Washington, Tokyo and Manila.