Kim Hyung-suk, spokesman for the unification ministry, speaks during a press conference on Sunday. (Yonhap News)
South Korea on Sunday condemned North Korea's recent series of provocations and urged the communist state to engage in dialogue to resolve a standoff over an inter-Korean industrial zone.
In a statement, Kim Hyung-suk, spokesman for the unification ministry, defined Pyongyang's provocative actions as "deplorable" and called on the North to "act responsibly" in the international community.
The ministry's statement came one day after the North fired three short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.
Kim also held North Korea responsible for the suspension of operations at Kaesong industrial complex and for the lack of subsequent inter-Korean talks to resolve the issue.
Operations at the factory park in the North Korean border town screeched to a halt in early April, as North Korea withdrew all of its 53,000 workers and barred South Korean employees, parts and supplies from entering the area. The North shut down the complex in protest of South Korea-U.S. military exercises and fresh international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang following its nuclear test in February.
South Korea has made proposals for talks over Gaeseong, the latest of which was rejected last week. North Korea said Seoul's proposal for talks on recovering raw materials and finished goods from Gaeseong was a "crafty ploy" and demanded the South stop making provocative remarks against the North.
Kim on Sunday accused the North of passing the buck to Seoul.
"It's quite regrettable that North Korea has denigrated our dialogue proposals and distorted facts while shifting the blame for the halted operations to us," the spokesman said. "If North Korea is serious about discussions over raw materials, it must respond to our offer for talks."
The industrial zone, which has combined cheap North Korean labor with the South's technology and capital, opened after the inaugural summit between late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and his counterpart Kim Jong-il in June 2000. It is viewed as one of the last symbols of inter-Korean rapprochement. (Yonhap News)