SEOUL, January 27. /ITAR-TASS/. South Korea’s authorities have proposed North Korea to hold the reunions of families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War in mid-February, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday.

Seoul made this step in response to an abrupt proposal for the reunions of separated families living in both Koreas made by the North Korean Red Cross on January 24.

The South invited the North to meet at the Mount Kumgang resort between February 17 and February 22 and to hold talks of the two countries’ Red Cross delegations in Panmunjom, a village in the demilitarized zone of Korea, to finalize details of the upcoming reunions.

According to some media, Seoul seeks to hold the reunions until the end of February, when the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercise Key Resolve will begin.

Traditionally, North Korea negatively reacts to the joint military drills of the United States and South Korea, calling them a full rehearsal of their invasion of the North.

Earlier this month, South Korean President Park Geun-hye called for holding the reunions of families around Lunar New Year, which falls on January 31. But the North rejected Seoul’s offer, citing, among other things, South Korea’s upcoming joint military exercises with the U.S.