Seoul - North Korea proposed talks next week with South Korea over their jointly run industrial park in the North, Seoul said Saturday amid heightened tensions on the peninsula.

The meeting was suggested for Tuesday at the industrial complex at Kaesong near the inter-Korean border, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

The South plans to accept the proposal, the domestic news agency Yonhap reported, citing an official at the presidential office.

The meeting would mark the first such inter-Korean dialogue since March 2008.

It was not known whether Pyongyang sought the meeting to discuss the operations of the park or its detention three weeks ago of a South Korean there. The detainee, who is still being held, was accused of criticizing the totalitarian country's political system.

The Kaesong industrial park is one of the most visible signs of the reconciliation agreements signed between the two neighbours during the era of South Korea's "Sunshine Policy" with the North.

Those pacts were signed under the liberal predecessors of conservative President Lee Myung Bak. Since Lee took office in February last year, relations have soured as he pursues a harder line toward Pyongyang.

North Korea's relations with the international community have also been on the downturn, particularly since it launched a rocket April 5. It said the launch was for a communications satellite, but other countries accused it of testing a long-range missile. (dpa)