South Korea has called on North Korea to engage in dialogue to discuss pending issues after the North refused inter-Korean talks criticizing South Korean civic groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
 
A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said Tuesday that the government's stance is that the North should come to the dialogue table to raise any issues it has instead of making one-sided statements. 
 
The official said that Seoul cannot restrict civic groups from distributing the leaflets because it has no legal grounds to do so, adding that such a position by the government will remain unchanged in the future.
 
The official also said that Seoul has asked the civic group Fighters for Free North Korea to use caution in its propaganda campaign after the group launched 200-thousand leaflets across the border into the North on Sunday.
 
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Fatherland on Monday criticized the South, saying that the latest distribution of propaganda leaflets took place under the protection of the South Korean government.