North Korea claims it has received no official counteroffer from South Korea for inter-Korean talks, in an apparent bid to emphasize that Seoul’s proposal was released only in the form of a statement by the Unification Ministry spokesman.

The North’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland made the remark in an interview with the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday.

This is North Korea’s first response to a counterproposal made by South Korea on January tenth for inter-Korean talks to discuss the sinking of a South Korean military vessel, the shelling of the South’s Yeonpyeong Island, and the denuclearization of North Korea.

The statement made by the North’s committee is being interpreted as a call on South Korea to make a formal proposal for talks via an inter-Korean telephone hotline.