MOSCOW, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea's state media said Saturday that high-level talks with South Korea could be put off the table following anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched by activists in the South on October 10, The Telegraph reported.
"Because of the irresponsible and provocative acts by the puppet regime [the South] the planned high-level meeting is all but scrapped," Pyongyang's state news provider Uriminzokkiri was quoted as reporting by the newspaper.
The activists planned to distribute the leaflets near the border as Pyongyang celebrated the anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party on Friday.
Following this, North Korean military on Friday tried to shoot down 200,000 balloons carrying the propaganda leaflets causing some rounds to fall on the Southern side of the border. The South returned machine gun fire in a two hour fire exchange, but no casualties were reported.
Last week there were rekindled prospects towards talks to improve cross- border relations when a high-level North Korean delegation made a surprise visit to the South to mark the closing of the Asian Games.
Led by Hwang Pyong-So, considered a number two to the North's leader Kim Jong-un, and vice chairman of the North's National Defense Commission, the two agreed to resume dialogue that had stalled for seven months over military tension. The North continues to warn the South not to carry out joint military drills with the US.
According to the North's state news provider, "the real culprits of this leaflet-launching commotion are the United States and the puppet regime."
Activists in the South regularly try to distribute leaflets across the border with anti-Pyongyang messages in an attempt to mobilize the North Korean people to rise up against repression.
