North Korea accused South Korea on Wednesday of "ruining" further chances of reuniting families separated by the Korean War six decades ago, a day after the divided countries traded artillery fire that killed at least four South Koreans.
The statement from the North Korean Red Cross also came after its South Korean counterpart indefinitely postponed their talks scheduled for Thursday. The North had demanded in the previous round that the South provide 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer in return for an
agreement to allow regular reunions.
"As the South's Red Cross has declared the indefinite postponement of talks, we no longer seek to resolve humanitarian issues," the North's Red Cross said in a statement released through the official Korean Central News Agency.
"The South's Red Cross should bear the entire responsibility for ruining humanitarian programs, including family reunions," it said.
The sides held their last round of family reunions at their joint mountain resort in the North from late last month to early this month, a
rare moment of peace between the countries that fought the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce.