Unification Minister Chung Dong-young says the government and the United States agree that they will not tolerate North Korea's counterfeiting.

After making a speech at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club Tuesday, Chung said the government is analyzing data on the North's counterfeiting and sharing information with Washington.

He also said Seoul urged Pyongyang in this month's inter-Korean ministerial meeting to immediately stop illegal activities, if any.

Chung, however, stressed that U.S. financial sanctions and other bilateral issues between Pyongyang and Washington are separate from the six-party nuclear talks.

On the recent blast of the North by U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Alexander, Chung said many people felt a public denunciation of the North was inappropriate at a time when important negotiations on the Korean Peninsula were taking place.