The government has notified North Korea that if the two Koreas hold working-level Red Cross talks and reach an agreement on the way of confirming the wishes of four North Koreans who have reportedly chosen to remain in South Korea, Seoul will allow the North to confirm the defectors' wishes in South Korea.

The Unification Ministry sent a message on Tuesday afternoon to that effect to the North’s Red Cross.

The ministry said in the message that Seoul will allow the North to confirm the four North Korean’s wishes on South Korean territory through fair and objective methods.

The government is suggesting that it will arrange the confirmation at a separate place in South Korea if the two Koreas reach an agreement on the method of the confirmation at the working-level Red Cross talks.

The ministry, however, holds firm on the position that the four North Koreans will not be present to meet with a North Korean delegation should it come to South Korea for a confirmation.

Thirty-one North Koreans crossed the Northern Limit Line in waters northeast of the border island of Yeonpyeong on February 5, and according to the South Korean government, four among them expressed their intention to stay in the South.

With Seoul refusing to return the four defectors to the North, Pyeongyang proposed Monday that working-level officials from the Red Cross organizations of the two Koreas meet at the truce village of Panmunjeom on Wednesday morning.

North Korea said that accompanying the North Korean Red Cross officials will be the families of the four North Korean defectors. The North also demanded that the four North Koreans be present at the meeting.