Seoul's Unification Ministry said that it is not pursuing "unification through absorption" as claimed by North Korea. 
 
A ministry official told reporters Tuesday that the current South Korean administration, like its predecessors, supports pursuing a gradual and step-by-step unification of the two Koreas based on the principles of self-reliance, peace and democracy. 
 
Regarding North Korea's call for unification based on a confederate system, the official said that what's more important than bickering over what method of unification is better is inter-Korean discussions on the issue.
 
He said Seoul's stance is that the two Koreas first build trust through dialogue and cooperation toward achieving a gradual and step-by-step unification.
 
In a National Defense Commission's spokesman statement Wednesday, North Korea demanded that South Korea convey its position on a number of matters including "unification through absorption," distribution of anti-North leaflets across the border and South Korea-U.S. military drills.