North Korea has rebuffed South Korea's proposal to resolve rising tension through dialogue, dismissing it as a "crafty trick" to disguise what Pyongyang calls the South's hostility.

South Korea last week urged North Korea to engage in dialogue to discuss stalled operations at a joint factory complex and other issues.

The offer marked a softening of what had been South Korea's stern stance toward North Korea's escalating threats to attack Seoul and Washington over their continuing joint military drills and their support for UN sanctions on North Korea. The latest sanctions were imposed because of North Korea's February 12 nuclear test.

A spokesman at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said today that Pyongyang has no intention of talking with Seoul unless it abandons its confrontational posture.