North Korea has asked for more time to decide whether or not to accept the South Korean government's proposal to hold an inter-Korean government-level meeting on Sunday.

An official at Seoul's Unification Ministry said that the North's message came through a telephone hotline in the truce village of Panmunjeom Saturday morning.

The North Korean liaison official was cited as asking for "a little bit more time," and that an official response will be delivered when it is ready.

North Korea was initially expected to inform the South on Saturday morning if it would hold talks following Seoul's suggestion Friday.

Some experts say that Pyongyang will contact the South by Saturday afternoon considering the invitation to meet is for Sunday.

Seoul on Friday made its latest counteroffer to hold working-level inter-Korean talks on the south side of the truce village at 10 a.m. Sunday in response to the North's proposal to hold the meeting in Gaeseong, North Korea.

Pyongyang on Thursday offered to hold talks between the two Korea's governments. Later in the day, Seoul made its initial counteroffer to hold a ministerial-level meeting in Seoul on Wednesday next week.

North Korea experts say if the two sides hold working-level talks on Sunday, they are expected to discuss the possibility of holding ministerial-level talks the South proposed on Thursday.