SEOUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unification ministry on Monday reiterated its position that it will flexibly review requests for civilian exchanges with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Duk-haeng told a regular press briefing that there has been no change in the government's position that the inter-Korean civilian exchanges would be flexibly reviewed within a range of not damaging the international community's sanctions.

The stance was based on the new government's policy that the severed inter-Korean relations are not desirable.

President Moon Jae-in, who took office about a month earlier, was widely forecast to inherit a so-called "Sunshine Policy" of trying to enhance relations with the DPRK through economic cooperation and civilian exchanges.

The spokesman, however, noted that the government will sternly deal with any DPRK provocations based on the South Korea-U.S. military alliance.

The DPRK test-fired missiles five times since the Moon government was launched on May 10.

Despite the escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Moon government was forecast to make efforts to improve relations with Pyongyang through civilian exchanges.

Since Moon's inauguration, his government approved 15 requests for civilian contacts with the DPRK counterpart. About 20 requests were reportedly waiting for the government's approval.