South Korea's point man on North Korea said Monday that Pyongyang should take steps to have Seoul's sanctions lifted.

South Korea slapped sanctions on the North in 2010 in retaliation for the sinking of a warship near their western sea border that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

South Korea has suspended inter-Korean projects and banned its new investment in the North, except for their joint factory park in the North's western city of Gaeseong.

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a parliamentary session that it's imperative for the North to "address the cause" of the sanctions.

In 2010, the North also shelled a South Korean island near their sea border, killing two soldiers and two civilians.

Still, the North has refused to take responsibility for the two deadly attacks.

Ryoo, meanwhile, reaffirmed South Korea's stance that it will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in the North. (Yonhap)