South Korea Calls for Renewed Family Reunions

FILE - South Korean Lee Pung-no, center, weeps as he hugs with his North Korean daughters during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain in North Korea, Nov. 3, 2010.

In her televised New Year news conference Monday, South Korea's president called for resuming reunions of families separated by the Korean War and promised increased humanitarian aid to the impoverished North.

President Park Geun-hye said that she wants the reunions to take place on the Lunar New Year's Day, January 31, to "heal wounded hearts."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called last week for improved ties in his New Year's Day speech, which also included a threat of nuclear war.

President Park responded Monday that what is important is not words, but action and sincerity. She told reporters that since last month's execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, it has been harder to predict what the North might do next.

North Korea canceled a round of reunions last year, blaming hostility from the South.