South Korea never had any intention of holding peace talks with North Korea this week, Pyongyang said on Thursday, following the cancellation of a high-level meeting between the two neighbours, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
The meeting had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Seoul, but was called off on Tuesday after the two sides failed agree on the make-up of their delegations.
A spokesman for North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency, accused Seoul of “creating an obstacle” by taking issue with the rank of North Korea’s top delegate.
South Korea had refused to send a cabinet-level minister to the talks, as requested by Pyongyang. Seoul said it had tried to match the rank of North Korea’s top delegate, Yonhap reported.
Pyongyang would not seek dialogue with Seoul for the time being, the report said.