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North Korea Blasts South for Failed Talks

13 June 2013 04:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. North Korea came down on South Korea on Thursday after high-level talks between the sides were canceled, South Korean media reported, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said South Korea deliberately hindered the resumption of the talks, Yonhap news agency reported citing North Korea media.

“This fully proves that the south side had no intent to hold dialog from the beginning and that it only sought to create an obstacle to the talks, delay and torpedo them after reluctantly taking part in the talks, far from solving issues at the negotiating table,” Yonhap quoted a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) as saying.

The North and the South were to have held two-day talks starting Wednesday, but the plan was called off after Pyongyang complained that Seoul fielded negotiators of insufficient rank.

Yonhap said Wednesday North Korea’s leadership did not return repeated calls from their counterparts in South Korea made over the last extant communication line between the two countries.

Tensions mounted on the Korean peninsula earlier this year after North Korea conducted new nuclear and missile tests. Official Pyongyang threatened Seoul and the United States with war and closed off the joint industrial zone in Kaesong following a new round of international sanctions, but later voiced willingness to negotiate.