North Korea has stressed the importance of dismantling its Punggye-ri nuclear test site amid reports Pyongyang refused to accept a list of South Korean journalists who are scheduled to attend the dismantlement.

North Korea's propaganda Web site "DPRK Today" said on Sunday that the planned dismantling is "a very significant and important measure" undertaken voluntarily by the North to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula based on the spirit of an agreement reached at a historic inter-Korean summit.

The Web site referred to the May 12 announcement by the North's Foreign Ministry that it will hold a ceremony for the dismantling of the nuclear test site between May 23 and 25 and invite journalists from China, Russia, the United States, Britain and South Korea to cover it.

On Saturday, another North Korean propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri, issued a commentary in which the North said the international community as well as the United States and South Korea are giving a great deal of support to the dismantlement.

In the commentaries carried by the two propaganda websites, the North strongly criticized conservative politicians in the South, including the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, for underestimating the planned closure of the nuclear test site.

[Photo : YONHAP News]