South Korea on Monday expressed deep regrets that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had rejected its dialogue offer.

"We came to judge that North Korea (DPRK) refused our government's proposal for dialogue," Kim Hyung-seok, spokesman at the Unification Ministry, told a press briefing. "We deeply regrets over such a refusal."

His comments came a day after a spokesman at the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea denounced Seoul' s dialogue overtures as "cunning ploy."

The committee's spokesman described the dialogue offer as " blushless act," saying that South Korea has given no apology for " past crimes," such as its joint military drills with Washington.

The South Korean presidential office said in a statement posted on its website that "it is very regrettable for North Korea to deny our government's dialogue proposal," urging Pyongyang to take responsible action to solve the problem of workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

A week earlier, the DPRK decided to withdraw all its workers from the joint industrial park at the DPRK's western border town of Kaesong, effectively suspending operations of 123 South Korean companies stationed there.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Thursday that Seoul will push for dialogue with the DPRK. On the same day, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a statement that the normalization of the Kaesong complex should be made through dialogue, urging Pyongyang to "come to the dialogue table."

"There is no change in our stance that North Korea should come to the dialogue table and sufficiently talk about issues, which they want to raise and suggest," said Kim at the unification ministry.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang kept the door open for dialogue. The committee's spokesman said that it was totally up to South Korea's attitude whether the DPRK will have dialogue with South Korea. Endi

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