In light of civic groups in South Korea relaunching anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaign operations, Seoul announced on Tuesday that ��it would be unjust if the North uses the leaflet campaign as a reason to not come out to hold talks.�� Last October, North Korea snubbed the second round of high-level inter-Korean talks, citing the campaigns.

��The government has already put forth its stance saying the North must not lay down wrongful preconditions for high-level talks,�� an official from South Korea��s Ministry of Unification said in a meeting with reporters on the same day.

��If inter-Korean ties move forward and trust is established, the North will be able to dispel its misunderstanding that the [South Korean] government is condoning and protecting [the leaflet campaigns],�� the official said. ��Once the North understands our system and exchanges are established, this problem will come to sort itself out."

The official went on to assert that the government remains resolute in its stnace that the government cannot regulate the act of releasing the leaflets. ��To change our fundamental stance on the leaflet campaign, which is an act realizing freedom to expression guaranteed in the constitution, in order to improve inter-Korean ties, is in fact not desirable for the normal development of relations between the South and North," he explained.

Meanwhile, a civic group in the South on Monday is reported to have launched giant balloons packed with 600,000 leaflets criticizing the North��s third generation dictatorship from Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province.