Roundup: S.Korea urges DPRK again to respond to dialogue offer

South Korea on Wednesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) once again to respond to its dialogue offer, saying the government will deliver voices of concern to civic groups about their plans to scatter anti-DPRK leaflets.

The South Korean military said it will sternly retaliate against any DPRK provocations though the provocations are caused by the leaflet dispersion.

Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a press briefing that the ministry has no plan to send an additional proposal to the DPRK for inter-Korean talks and is to wait for response from the DPRK.

The ministry sent a dialogue overture to Pyongyang on Dec. 29 and said Seoul is open to all forms of dialogue to discuss all issues of mutual concern.

Lim urged Pyongyang once again to rapidly respond to Seoul's proposal for holding inter-Korean talks in January.

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's speech on Jan. 1 that there is no reason not to hold summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye if a right atmosphere is formed.

In her New Year's press conference, Park said in response that she can hold summit with Kim if it promotes inter-Korean relations, but she noted that the DPRK should show sincerity toward resolving issues through dialogue.

South Korea has called for the holding of reunion event of Korean families, separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, around the Lunar New Year's holiday that fell in mid-February this year.

The DPRK has demanded that South Korea prevent civic groups from floating anti-DPRK leaflets across the border and said it would temporarily suspend nuclear tests if the United States halts joint annual military exercises with South Korea.

On Oct. 10, the DPRK fired shots at balloons carrying anti-DPRK leaflets floated by a South Korean civic group, composed largely of "defectors" from the DPRK, near the western border. Residents in the border regions strongly opposed to such activity as it raises military tensions.

The leaflet spread has long been a source of tensions on the Korean Peninsula as seen in Pyongyang's rejection to Seoul's dialogue proposal in October last year for the leaflet dispersion.

Park Sang-hak, head of one South Korean civic group that has scattered anti-DPRK leaflet via balloons, said in his recent interview with a local newspaper that he plans to fly such leaflets aggressively from March. Park, a defector from the DPRK, said in another interview that he plans to scatter the DVDs across the border of "The Interview," a film featuring a fictional plot to assassinate top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

One Unification Ministry official was quoted by local media as saying that the ministry would deliver its worrying voice to civic groups which plan to fly leaflets against the DPRK regime.

The official said the ministry is not considering the delivery of official documents asking the civic group chief to refrain from the leaflet dispersion, but noting that it would be important to deliver the government's voice of concern. The chief has said he may refrain from the leaflet spread if the ministry sends him an official document.

The ministry has said that it may prevent civic groups from flying the anti-DPRK leaflets if such activity threatens the life and property of people residing near the border regions.

Meanwhile, South Korean military officials were quoted by local media as saying that the military would impose a stern retaliation against the DPRK for any provocations, though the provocations are caused by leaflet spread.

The warning came after a local daily newspaper Donga Ilbo reported that the DPRK military recently completed exercises to devastate border regions in South Korea where civic groups float anti-DPRK leaflets.

The military said it has no intelligence on the media report, noting that it is closely monitoring the firing exercises conducted by DPRK artillery troops. Endi