The South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism expressed regrets over the scuffle between South Korean civilians' anti-North Korean protests and North Korean reporters at Daegu last Sunday.

Culture and Tourism minister Lee Chang Dong held a news conference Wednesday and said he feels deeply deplorable over the political confrontation staged by right-wing anti-North Korean organizations, which he said would incite North Korea.

Minister Lee urged the people to restrain from staging political activities but instead respect the spirit of sportsmanship and live up to the principle of university sports alliance.

He added that if there is any such incidents happening again, he would sternly deal with them according to the pertinent laws.