North Korea has strongly criticized South Korea for rejecting its proposal for talks, insisting it is a sincere offer to mend bilateral relations.
Minju Josun, a government editorial printed in North Korea, reported Tuesday that Pyongyang denounced Seoul for dampening hopes for improved ties.
On Monday, the North proposed extensive talks and negotiations without conditions attached.
"Whether we have sincerity or not will be confirmed once we sit down face to face," the newspaper said, urging Seoul to "immediately stop libels and provocations" towards Pyongyang.
North Korea officially proposed dialogue with the South, less than two months after a deadly border artillery exchange between the two Koreas.
"There is neither conditionality in the North's proposal for dialogue nor need to cast any doubt about its real intention," read an early January statement by the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea.
The latest offer for rapprochement comes days after South Korea rejected an earlier proposal by North Korea to hold unconditional talks with Seoul in an attempt to tamp down growing tensions on the fractured peninsula.
"The South Korean authorities should discard any unnecessary misgiving, open their hearts and positively respond to the North's proposal and measure," the statement said.
However, South Korean authorities rejected talk proposals, saying the North is not sincere in its offers.
In its latest response to negotiation offers, the South said it was willing to hold government-level talks, but only if the North admits responsibility for a series of provocations and confirms a commitment to scrapping its nuclear program.
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