Red Cross officials of the two Koreas will meet next week to discuss building a permanent meeting place for separated families.

A South Korean Red Cross official said Thursday that chairman of the North Korean Red Cross, Chang Jae-on, proposed the meeting be held at the North's Mt. Geumgang from Thursday to Saturday.

The proposal was conveyed in a telephone message through the border truce village of Panmunjom, to Acting president of South Korea's Red Cross, Lee Se-wong.

In the telephone message, Chang said the South’s latest decision to provide fertilizer would contribute to the development of ties between the two countries and the Red Cross Societies of the two sides.

South Korean officials hope the proposed meeting will lead to a resumption of inter-Korean governmental talks.

South-North talks were suspended after mass defections of North Koreans to the South in late July and Seoul’s refusal to allow its citizens to visit Pyongyang earlier this year on the 10th anniversary of the death of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.