South Korea’s unification ministry stressed it is “inspecting” – not investigating – non-profit corporations under its jurisdiction, a statement Tuesday indicated, following North Korean anger at Seoul’s inability to prevent activist groups launching leaflets across the DMZ.

The Ministry of Unification’s (MOU) remarks – coming in the wake of their efforts to scrutinize local activist groups’ work – appeared to respond to a joint July 17 letter by local human rights organizations condemning the scrutiny as an effort to sustain “friendly relations with North Korea.’

“We would like to clarify that the administrative inspection is not to ‘investigate’ but to