Pyongyang on Tuesday denied involvement in the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel five years ago, and called for the lifting of Seoul’s comprehensive sanctions against it.

Pyongyang’s National Defense Commission issued a statement Monday clarifying its stance on the May 24 measures, sanctions on virtually all inter-Korean exchange – aside from the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex – imposed by former President Lee Myung-bak’s administration following the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan in 2010.

A team of international investigators concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan in March of that year.

Pyongyang called on Seoul to lift