South Korea is urging North Korea to respect their earlier agreement on the joint June 15th celebrations marking the fifth anniversray of the inter-Korean summit.

In a message to the North Friday, the Unification Ministry expressed regret over Pyongyang's sudden demand for a smaller delegation from Seoul.

The ministry said the North's demand, which comes little more than 10 days before the Pyongyang event and motivated by political factors, is hard to comprehend.

Seoul urged Pyongyang's compliance with the previously agreed upon details, saying a smooth implementation of the inter-Korean event would help to improve the political climate.

Pointing out that the North had demanded the scaling down of both government and civic delegations, the ministry stressed that previous agreements for the civic delegations, in particular, should be adhered to, as it would be difficult for the celebrations to proceed otherwise.

Meanwhile, the South's preparatory committee for the joint ceremony sent a ten-member delegation to Pyongyang Friday to persuade its Northern counterpart to carry out the plan as scheduled for the sake of mutual trust between the two Koreas.