S. Korea expresses regret over N. Korea's claim on summit talks

(ATTN: RECASTS with South Korean government reaction; CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea expressed deep regret Wednesday after North Korea alleged that Seoul asked for a series of summit talks with the communist nation, calling Pyongyang's allegations a "unilateral claim" not worthy of a response.
Seoul's move came hours after the North's powerful National Defense Commission revealed that the sides held secret talks last month where Seoul proposed holding three summit meetings -- first at the border village of Panmunjom in late June, second in Pyongyang in August and third in Seoul in March next year on the sidelines of an international security summit.
The commission headed by leader Kim Jong-il said that Seoul also proposed holding Cabinet-level talks in late May to lay the groundwork for summit talks.
As the North "made a unilateral claim by distorting our true intention, we don't need to react to it one by one," the Unification Ministry said in a statement. The ministry handles inter-Korean affairs.