Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok says the government will withhold additional economic aid to North Korea and implement measures that will make the North take practical burdens.

Lee made the remarks Thursday while briefing the parliamentary committee on unification, foreign affairs and trade.

Lee said that the government first detected signs of the missile launches in early May and has been responding calmly according to its risk management manuals in an apparent rebuttal to allegations of Seoul’s slow response to the North’s missile launch.

In the briefing, main opposition Grand National Party lawmakers urged the government to overhaul its general policy toward Pyongyang. Fertilizer aid and the operation of inter-Korean economic cooperation funds have not ceased despite the North's continued provocations.