SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Tuesday denied Seoul's claim that Pyongyang's recent expression of "regret" after a marathon negotiating session is an apology for a mine explosion that maimed two South Korean soldiers.
The statement by North Korea's National Defense Commission was the first explicit denial of the key part of an accord heralded by the South as a breakthrough for the rivals.
South Korea must stop saying the North apologized or face unspecified consequences, the statement said.
North Korea's vague expression of "regret" after three days of talks last week focused on the South Korean soldiers' injuries, not on the mines' placement, but it allowed the two Koreas to back away from threats of war. South Korea responded by turning off cross-border loudspeaker broadcasts critical of the North's political system.
North Korea in its statement Tuesday also criticized South Korea's recent live-fire drills with the U.S.
A Section on 09/02/2015