The South Korean government is attempting to elicit a response from North Korea on its proposal for talks on families separated on either side of the 38th parallel since the end of the Korean War.

The unification ministry said it attempted to contact North Korea through the inter-Korean joint liaison office at 10 a.m. on Thursday to propose a cross-border meeting seeking a resolution to the issue of war-torn families, but the North has yet to respond.

The ministry plans to re-send the proposal through the liaison office at 5 p.m.

Unification minister Kwon Young-se openly proposed inter-Korean dialogue on the issue of separated families through a statement Thursday morning, on the eve of the Chuseok holiday celebrated by both Koreas.

However, observers say the probability of North Korea accepting the proposal is slim after it balked at President Yoon Suk Yeol’s proposal for a “bold initiative” exchanging economic support for denuclearization steps. North Korea maintains its hostile stance towards the South ever since.