SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday rejected South Korea's offer to hold Red Cross talks on reunions of separated families, saying Seoul should first respond to its demand for an apology for not paying official respect over the death of former leader Kim Jong-il and for a promise to carry out previous summit agreements.

South Korea's Red Cross proposed Tuesday that the two sides hold working-level talks on Feb. 20 to discuss reinstating reunions of family members separated since the 1950-53 Korean War and other humanitarian issues.

On Saturday, the North's Minju Joson newspaper carried a commentary accusing Seoul of talking about family reunions and exchanges while seeking sanctions on the communist nation behind the scenes in what it calls an attempt to evade responsibility for devastating inter-Korean ties.

If the South is truly interested in family reunions and cooperation and exchanges, the newspaper said, it should respond to a "questionnaire" that Pyongyang's National Defense Commission made for the South early this month.

In the questionnaire, the North demanded that the South repent for halting inter-Korean dialogue, apologize for the disrespect showed in response to the death of former leader Kim and pledge to uphold the June 15 joint declaration signed by progressive South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 2000.

Seoul has said the questions raised by the North did not even merit a response.