The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has raised the possibility of resuming cross-border tours with the south.

The north sent a notice to South Korea Saturday, proposing government-level talks in mid-October aimed at resuming tours to scenic spots on the DPRK's Mount Kumgang.

The DPRK's official news agency, KCNA, reported that "the General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots of the DPRK Saturday sent a notice to the Ministry of Unification of South Korea proposing the working talks between the authorities of the north and the south."

The DPRK's proposal was announced one day after the Red Cross organizations of the DPRK and South Korea agreed in talks to hold reunions of families separated by the Korean War.

In the notice, the DPRK proposed holding working-level talks in Kaesong, a city in North Hwanghae Province in southern DPRK, on "the issue of the real estates of the South side in the Mount Kumgang area and the issue of resuming tours according to the consultation made at the North-South Red Cross working contact made on Friday," the KCNA said.

"The notice said that the DPRK side would send three officials concerned," it reported.

Visits by South Korean tourists to Mount Kumgang were suspended in 2008 after a South Korean woman went into a restricted area and was shot dead.

After the suspension of tourist visits, the DPRK froze or seized South Korean facilities at Mount Kumgang earlier this year.