The South Korean director general of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, Kim Young-tak, will travel to North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s request for direct inter-Korean contact.

Pyongyang has asked for a meeting Tuesday in the North Korean border city, saying it plans to notify Seoul of "a matter of grave importance."

A high-ranking government official says the South accepted the North's request and sent Kim and other officials to the meeting.

Tuesday's meeting will be the first between the two governments under the South's Lee Myung-bak administration other than military talks.

Seoul is also considering proposing that an organization handling the safety of South Koreans working in the complex be set up.

The two countries in 2004 drafted an agreement on setting up the organization but have yet to establish it.