North Korea calls off reunions of divided families

SEOUL: North Korea yesterday indefinitely postponed reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War scheduled to start on Wednesday, an apparent setback after weeks of improving ties with the South following springtime threats of war.

North Korea said the six days of reunions, which last happened three years ago, could not be held because of South Korean conservatives’ ‘‘reckless and vicious confrontation racket’’ against Pyongyang. It also vowed, in similarly familiar rhetoric, to ‘‘take strong and decisive counteractions against the South Korean puppet regime’s ever-escalating war provocations’’.

The development, which an analyst called a North Korean attempt to gain an advantage in negotiations with Seoul, is a twist in what had been gradually easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang tempering its threats and pursuing talks meant to restart various interKorean cooperation projects.

The biggest highlight is the recent reopening of a jointly run industrial estate just across the border in North Korea after a five-month shutdown.

Pyongyang’s announcement was likely linked to its frustration over delayed talks with Seoul to resume lucrative, jointly run tours to a North Korean mountain resort, and to a perception that Seoul wasn’t supporting the North’s push to restart stalled international aid-for-nucleardisarmament negotiations, said Yoo Hoyeol, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul.

‘‘The family reunion is something that South Korea wants. It is not surprising that Pyongyang is now using this as a bargaining chip,’’ Mr Yoo said.

An unidentified spokesman for the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said the family reunions will be postponed until a ‘‘normal atmosphere’’ for dialogue returns.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which is responsible for ties with the North, denounced the decision to postpone the reunions for political reasons as inhumane. A South Korean delegation responsible for preparing for the reunions is currently in the North, the ministry said. It wasn’t immediately clear when it would return.

The Korean War separated millions of families, and huge numbers of refugees moved both north and south. Past reunions provided scenes of intense emotion, bringing together weeping family members desperate for details and news.