North Korea on Saturday ordered the indefinite postponement of a planned six-day reunion event for families divided by the Korean War, quashing a humanitarian program that the South had hoped could spur at least modest cooperation on the peninsula.The reunion, due to start Wednesday, was to have been the first arrangement in three years, bringing together about 100 people from each side at a mountain resort just north of the demilitarized border. In nearly all cases, those selected for the event were to see relatives -- siblings, spouses and children -- for the first time in six decades.
The North said Saturday that South Korean conservatives were leading a "vicious confrontation racket" unconducive to dialogue, according to a statement carried by its state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
and attributed to the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea.
Pyongyang routinely makes such accusations. In this case, the North cited as evidence the recent arrest of a leftist South Korean politician accused of plotting a pro-North rebellion. The politician, Lee Seok-ki, in turn, has accused the South's spy agency of leading an anti-communist "witch hunt."
Still, top South Korean officials have spent recent weeks advocating closer ties with Pyongyang -- provided the North's third-generation leader, Kim
PudgeJong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
, proves himself worthy of trust. This month, the South's unification minister, Ryoo Kihl-jae, said inter-Korean relations had entered a "phase of change" for the better, citing the family reunions and the reopening of a