Pyongyang, July 13: Pyongyang has indefinitely postponed a meeting with the United Nations Command (UNC) on South Korea’s Cheonan warship sinking, which has been blamed on the North.
The much-anticipated meeting was supposed to be held Tuesday between UNC (a US-led command structure for the multinational military forces supporting South Korea), and North Korea in the demilitarized zone between the two neighbors, South Korean Yonhap news agency said.
A few hours before the talks were to take place, the North’s military “requested a delay in the planned colonel-level meetings with United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission representatives at Panmunjom for administrative reasons,” the agency cited a UNC statement.
A new date for the meeting has not been worked out yet, the command said.
The meeting would have been the first of its kind since the 1,200-ton South Korean warship sank in March in the Yellow Sea near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border, causing the loss of 46 lives.
Meanwhile, on Friday, North Korea proposed military talks with the US to alleviate tension over sinking of the South Korean warship that Washington and Seoul blame on Pyongyang.
The North, however, has denied any involvement.
The proposal came as the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday condemned the sinking of a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea, but did not directly blame North Korea for the attack.
The UNSC declaration stresses the importance of preventing further attacks against the South.
——–Agencies