A North Korean guard post (L) is seen from the South Korean border
(AFP) – 4 hours ago
SEOUL — North Korea has rejected a planned visit by South Korean activists to discuss humanitarian aid, officials said Wednesday, nixing the first such cross-border trip since Pyongyang's nuclear test in May.
Members of the Korea Sharing Movement were to fly into Pyongyang Wednesday for talks on humanitarian support projects, after a verbal agreement with the group's North Korean counterpart.
It would have marked Seoul's first approval of such trips since the communist North's nuclear test on May 25.
But the South's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, said the journey had to be called off at the last minute.
"The trip was cancelled because the group did not receive an official invitation from North Korea," ministry spokesman Chung Hae-Sung told reporters.
South Korea has promised to extend massive economic aid and business cooperation if impoverished North Korea scraps its nuclear weapons.
But relations worsened sharply this year over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, which prompted the United Nations to impose tougher sanctions.
SEOUL — North Korea has rejected a planned visit by South Korean activists to discuss humanitarian aid, officials said Wednesday, nixing the first such cross-border trip since Pyongyang's nuclear test in May.
Members of the Korea Sharing Movement were to fly into Pyongyang Wednesday for talks on humanitarian support projects, after a verbal agreement with the group's North Korean counterpart.
It would have marked Seoul's first approval of such trips since the communist North's nuclear test on May 25.
But the South's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, said the journey had to be called off at the last minute.
"The trip was cancelled because the group did not receive an official invitation from North Korea," ministry spokesman Chung Hae-Sung told reporters.
South Korea has promised to extend massive economic aid and business cooperation if impoverished North Korea scraps its nuclear weapons.
But relations worsened sharply this year over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, which prompted the United Nations to impose tougher sanctions.
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