The sister of a South Korean man believed to have been abducted by North Korea in 1978 says her family has accepted her brother's invitation to visit Pyongyang for the Arirang Festival next month if the governments of the two Koreas allow it.

In a news conference on Monday, Kim Young-ja thanked the South Korean government for her family’s recent reunion with her brother Yong-nam in the North’s Mount Geumgang.

She also said that she understands her brother’s complex position and his denial of his abduction.

Meanwhile, Choi Sung-yong, the head of an association for family members kidnapped by North Korea, urged the separation of reunions between abductees and their families, and other ordinary inter-Korean family reunions.

The South Korean government proposed generous economic aid to Pyongyang in return for the North’s active efforts to resolve the abduction issue.