North Korea calls off high-level talks with South after row over delegates

High-level talks between North and South Korea planned for today after a six-year hiatus and threats of war have been scrapped, officials in Seoul said, following a seemingly minor disagreement over the diplomatic ranks of chief delegates.

North Korea's offer to hold the talks came after weeks of threats in March and April to attack the South and the United States. The offer came as the North apparently sought to reopen lucrative business deals and the South was trying to mend ties with its volatile, heavily armed neighbour.

Kim Hyung-suk, a spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry, said yesterday Pyongyang had told Seoul that the South's choice for its chief delegate for the talks, the deputy unification minister, was not appropriate and a "grave provocation".

Seoul had hoped Pyongyang would send a senior ruling Workers' Party secretary known to be a close adviser to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as an indication that it was serious about the meeting. But North Korea sent notice that it would be a relatively unknown bureaucrat who would be leading the delegation, the ministry spokesman said.

The decision was "abnormal" and the person chosen not fit to be a genuine representative of North Korea's leadership, he said, adding: "Our government regrets North Korea's position."

The disagreement was reminiscent of seemingly minor details that derailed or delayed progress in previous meetings.