The Gaeseong Industrial Complex and the inter-Korean Red Cross channel at the truce village of Panmunjeom will shut down for two days as North Korea marks the 70th birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il on Thursday.

The shutdown is expected to complicate the South Korean government's efforts to hold working-level talks between the two Koreas' Red Cross organizations early next week.

South Korea proposed in a telephone message Tuesday that both sides resume Red Cross talks next Monday to arrange temporary reunions of families separated between the two Koreas. The North has yet to receive the message.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said South Korea hopes the North will positively respond to the proposal for Red Cross talks, calling the reunion of separated families an urgent task that the two Koreas need to resolve.