Anchor: Pyongyang has stepped up pressure on Seoul to clarify its position on anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns by civic groups and joint military exercises with the United States. The South Korean government retained its position that it has no legal means to stop the leaflet campaigns, but it is considering holding back a civic group from sending DVDs across the border of the Hollywood movie, "The Interview."
Our Kim In-kyung has the latest.
 
Report: Pyongyang has called on Seoul to stop civic groups from launching anti-North Korea leaflets and holding joint military drills with the United States, in effect setting them as preconditions for talks with South Korea. 
 
North Korea's National Defense Commission said Wednesday that as South Korea is allowing the leaflet campaigns on the basis of freedom of expression, holding dialogue with such a partner wouldn’t bring a significant shift in inter-Korean relations.  
 
The defense commission asked Seoul to clarify whether it sincerely wants to hold dialogue or if it wants to resort to confrontation. 
 
The commission also criticized the South Korea-U.S. military exercise, saying Seoul should make it clear if it wants to create a peaceful environment on the Korean Peninsula or if it wants to intensify tensions.
 
The commission went on to criticize President Park Geun-hye who recently said Seoul must induce meaningful change from the North this year. It added that the president must clarify her position on the idea of absorbing the North Korean regime for unification.
 
Calling the statement an "entrusted one," the commission nuanced that its demands are on behalf of its leader Kim Jong-un.
 
In response, the South Korean government called on the North to stop assertions that do not help dialogue and to come forward for talks to achieve actual progress in South-North relations.
 
In a statement on Thursday, the South Korean government said it plans to advance inter-Korean relations and open the era of unification this year, which marks the 70th anniversary of liberation on the Korean Peninsula.

However, while keeping its principles on the matter, Seoul appears to be considering ways to prevent defector civic groups from sending DVDs of the Hollywood comedy, "The Interview," to North Korea in balloons. 
 
A Unification Ministry official spoke to reporters on Thursday about safety concerns for the civic group, "Fighters for Free North Korea," which plans to send the DVDs of the film about a fictitious plot of assassinating North Korean leader Kim. The official said the government will take proper safety measures, which may include preventing the civic group from sending the DVDs in balloons to the North.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.