Seoul: North Korea cancels pre-Olympic joint cultural event
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea on Tuesday expressed regret over North Korea’s cancellation of one of the joint co-operation projects planned for next month’s Winter Olympics, a development highlighting the delicate nature of ties between the rivals split for seven decades.
In a message sent over a cross-border communication channel, South Korea demanded the North to fulfil mutual agreements over a set of conciliatory gestures to mark the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.
North Korea on Monday night sent a message saying it won’t hold a joint cultural event at the North’s Diamond Mountain on Feb. 4, which was one of two pre-Olympic events in North Korea the countries had agreed to. Ministry officials said they expect a joint training session between the countries’ non-Olympic skiers at a North Korean ski resort to go on as planned this week.
The ministry cited North Korea as saying it has no other option but to cancel the cultural event because of South Korean media reports that it says defamed its “sincere” measures for the Olympics. The North also accused South Korean media of picking a fight over an unspecified domestic festival in North Korea, according to the ministry statement.