North Korea on Wednesday virtually turned down a South Korean proposal for talks to return raw materials and finished products from a suspended inter-Korean industrial complex to South Korea, criticizing the proposal as a "crafty ploy" to evade domestic criticism over the complex's halt and mislead public opinion.

"Availing ourselves of this opportunity, we (North Korea) remind the south Korean authorities once again that the prospect of the Gaeseong complex and the future orientation of the north-south relations entirely depend on their attitude,"" an unidentified spokesperson of the North's General Bureau for the Special Zone Development Guidance said in an interview with the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The bureau overseas the industrial complex, located in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong.

"If the south side truly intends to normalize the operation of the Gaeseong complex, it should not talk about dialogue with unessential issues such as the issue of communications and carrying out of goods but opt for settling basic issues and stop provocative remarks and confrontation racket against the DPRK (North Korea)," the North Korean official said. However, the official did not specify what the "basic" issues are. 

The remark is a response to a Tuesday proposal by the South Korea's Ministry of Unification under the instruction of South Korean President Park Geun-hye to hold working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjom to alleviate the ongoing plight of the 123 South Korean companies that have been forced out of the complex.

The North Korean official also upbraided the South Korean president's remarks at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting where she gave the order for talks, saying they are "a crafty ploy to evade the blame for the crisis in the Gaeseong complex and mislead public opinion" and "another provocative invective against the DPRK (North Korea)."

During the meeting, Park expressed hope that Gaeseong will undergo revolutionary changes toward internationalization and not only normalization.

"In order for that to happen, safety devices for the promises North Korea made with the international community should be guaranteed," she said.

It's the South Korean authorities that forcefully withdrew South Korean workers from the complex in defiance of the North's step against the South Korean media's reports that harmed the dignity of the North Korean regime, the official also said. 

Operations of the companies came to a halt early last month after Pyongyang ordered all of its 53,000 laborers not to report to work, citing the reports that the Gaeseong complex is a key source for the impoverished country to earn hard currency. Late last month, the South Korean government pulled all South Korean workers out of the complex in fear of their safety.

South Korea's latest proposal marks the third time that Seoul has called for a discussion on normalizing operations at Gaeseong, which remains the only commercial link between the two sides.

Launched in 2004, the complex is a combination of South Korean capital and North Korean cheap labor force. (Yonhap News)