SEOUL, Feb. 3 -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) proposed Monday to South Korea to hold the working- level contacts between Red Cross officials within this week, Seoul' s Unification Ministry said.

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told an emergency press conference that Pyongyang accepted Seoul's earlier proposal for the working-level contacts, saying that the DPRK offered to hold the meeting on Wednesday or Thursday at South Korea's convenience at Tonilgak, an administrative building on the DPRK side of the truce village of Panmunjeom.

Kim said that the DPRK sent the notice of such proposal at around 10 a.m. through the Panmunjeom liaison office.

A week earlier, Seoul offered to hold the working-level contact on Jan. 29 to sort out details on the agreed family reunion, but it failed to be held as Pyongyang gave no response.

On Jan. 24, the two Koreas agreed to hold the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul proposed the reunion date to be held from Feb. 17 to 22, which Pyongyang had agreed to.